No Longer Alone
by adoctoraday
Summary: Lena has been running for nearly two years since the world ended, trying to find a safe place, and maybe even a safe group. Now, when her life is in peril, safety finds her, in the form of one Daryl Dixon. But after the losses he's suffered, can they survive together? And in this post-apocalyptic hell, is anyone really safe?
1. Don't Stop

**Hey everybody, this is going to be a Daryl/OC story, but it is going to move a little slower. Please review and give your thoughts! This is my first time writing so let me know what you think! Many thanks! **

"Just keep moving" Lena whispered to herself. She leaned up against a tall oak tree, the rough bark cutting into her face. She had been running almost nonstop for two days and was on the verge of dropping. Her water had run out this morning, and she had no food left.

Lena wasn't sure how much farther she could push without something to sustain her body. She was already showing the effects of malnutrition, at 24 years old, 5 foot 6, she was able to see her hipbones and when she had stopped a few days earlier at a creek for water, she had been able to see her cheekbones jutting up prominently.

The last year had not been kind to Lena. Running from the south of Florida to outside of Atlanta had nearly killed her multiple times. Had she not ran out of necessity, she would have long ago stopped.

Lena's head snapped up, she heard her pursuers shuffling gates and moans grow louder.

"Shit!" She whispered. Lena looked around and saw that her only option was either to enter the dried out creek bed to her left, or climb the steep hill to her right.

She had been avoiding climbing the hill for the past half hour, having felt her limbs growing ever more tired. Looking behind her, she didn't see the walkers in sight, and decided to start up the hill. Her short rest had given her the time to breathe and asses her options.

She plunged up the hill holding onto the trees, the sound of the walkers slowly chasing her. Her eyes flickered up, down, and all around, trying to stay as vigilant as possible. Finally, sweat soaked and exhausted, Lena made it to the top of the hill.

Clinging to a tree, she assessed the walkers trying to follow her up the hill and decided it was unlikely that they would be unable to manage the steep grade. Sighing in relief, Lena looked around, and to her surprise noted that there were wild blackberries growing nearby.

Approaching cautiously, she began to pick them and eat slowly; savoring the first food her body had had in days. Lena felt her stomach cramp around the food, and pushed down the desire to shove more food in her mouth. After eating as much as she could Lena filled a Tupperware container she had scrounged from an empty house with the berries and decided to move on, she could already hear the walkers scrambling up the hill, pursuing her.

**Later that night**

Lena looked down from her perch in the tree where she had tied herself in, and pulled her trench coat tighter around her. She could only hope that she was high enough up that no walkers would wander by and notice her. Sleeping was a hard task in this position, but eventually she managed it.

"**RUN LENA**!" _Her mother screamed….she smelled smoke….moaning_…Lena tried to turn, and snapped awake, arms flailing, almost falling out of the tree. The smoke she smelled was not real, just a nightmare of her minds' making. The moaning however was very real.

She looked down and saw three walkers clawing at the tree. "Fuck!" Lena swore.

Untying herself, Lena watched them for a moment and then decided that the best way to handle them was by scaling down to a lower branch and taking them out from above with her Bowie knife. She lowered herself to a branch no more than two feet above them, and quickly realized that if she tried to lower herself any more to take one out, the others would grab her.

Making a swift decision, Lena kicked the closest in the face, knocking it back into the other two.

Jumping down to the ground she made a quick lunge towards the walkers and plunged her knife into the first's head. Pulling her knife free she whirled to her right to try and bring down the second and heard the third shuffling up to her left.

"Shit shit shit" Lena muttered, backing quickly towards the tree, hoping to use it to keep her back safe. The second walker lunged towards her and Lena thanked her long dead self defense teacher for instilling her with fast reflexes. She plunged the knife into its soft skull, and pushed at its chest, trying desperately to free the knife.

Lena heard the third walker moaning louder as it came inexorably closer. "Oh god, come on!" Lena moaned in fear, finally freeing her knife, too late, as the last walker tackled her to the ground, its teeth snapping dangerously close to her face. Screaming, Lena pushed at it.

*_**Twang**_* An arrow bolt stuck out of the walker's head, its blood splattering Lena, causing its even more dead weight to collapse on her. "Ughhh nasty" Lena groaned, pushing the body off her.

Standing, she looked around to see where the arrow had come from. Her eyes landed on a man, tall, with dark brown shaggy hair, holding a crossbow, wearing a leather vest.

Lena felt her heart pounding and her hands shaking from the adrenaline. She heard a rushing sound, and as the world faded to black around her, Lena's last conscious thought was "Thank god, I'm not alone anymore."


	2. Getting to know you

Daryl watched as the young woman's eyes rolled into the back of her head, her body went limp and slumped to the ground. He stood watching her for a long moment, the sound of small animals and birds surrounding them.

The lack of walker noises reassured him that the threats were gone. He took cautious steps towards her, and with each step, assessed her. She looked small curled in the dust and leaves, though her hand still clung tightly to the large Bowie knife.

"Girls' got balls to carry something that big" he thought to himself. Crouching beside her, he noted her suntanned skin was pale and sweaty, and she looked skinny for her height. "Too skinny for my taste," Daryl muttered. He peeled back her eyelid, simultaneously feeling for her heartbeat in her neck as Herschel had taught him. Steady, but slow. She had probably bottomed out from the adrenaline, and lack of food from the looks of her.

Daryl rocked back on his heels contemplating. He certainly wasn't going to leave her here by herself, but _here_ wasn't the best place to make camp. Sighing, he decided the best course of action was to move her further along, and try to find a shelter. He scooped her up in his arms, grimacing at how light the girl was. He would need to hunt and get some food in her.

As he walked Daryl contemplated his decision to save the girl. He could have just left her there, but part of him had rebelled at that idea. In this world you had to be strong enough to take care of yourself, and he had seen she was, though she needed to eat more. He wondered why she wasn't with a group, but then, he wasn't either...and for good reason.

**Later that evening**

Daryl leaned back against the cave wall, pleased with his luck. The caves in this area were few and far between, and he had been worried it would have walkers in it. Luckily there had only been one, and he had been able to set the girl down and deal with it quickly. He stationed the body of the walker outside as a sort of repellant as Michonne had mentioned once, hoping it would work.

He had gathered firewood and dug a hole in the ground, keeping the fire low, cooking the squirrels and a rabbit he had managed to hunt down. He watched the girl sleep, wondering if he should attempt to wake her.

He had managed to find some fresh water and had used her water bottle as well as his own to collect it, and was considering waking her to make her eat and drink. It was clear from her physical condition she had been running a long time, maybe she needed to keep sleeping? Daryl noted that her boots were wearing through and she had wrapped them in spots with duct tape, and her dark skinny jeans had multiple rips in them.

Her light blue sweater (turquoise maybe? Hell he wasn't no fashion designer, how was he supposed to know that shit?) also had tears and holes in it, letting him see through to a grey undershirt that was pulled up enough for him to see a sliver of her flat stomach and a pair of protruding hips bones.

It was the dark circles under her eyes, the cheekbones that were becoming prominent and the hipbones that were starting to show in an unappealing manner that all told him she hadn't had any good food or rest in weeks. The only good piece of clothing she wore was a long black trench coat that reached nearly to her knees.

His attention drifted to the fire and the rabbit and squirrel roasting there. He reached out to turn the meat and jumped when the girl let out a low moan-

"Unghhhhhhhh"

Daryl's head snapped up from watching the fire and over to the girl, who seemed to be rousing. He watched her with cautious eyes, hand on his knife.

She came to slowly, moving with care. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. He noted that they were a hunter green with an inner rim of desert sandy gold, the strangest hazel eyes he had ever seen. The fire light lit her face and hair, showing it to be a color like chocolate, twisted into a low, tight bun at her neck. Her eyes, piercing and wary, held his for a long moment before she spoke.

"Hey. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess I passed out. Thank you for not leaving me to become walker chow," She offered a small, wry smile at this, and then asked, "What's your name?"

Daryl studied her for a moment, letting the silence hang there, and then spoke. "Wasnna big deal. Couldn't just leave you to die. I gotta know if you deserve it first." He watched her process his statement in silence, wondering what would come outta her mouth next.

"Well, I hope you give me the chance to prove I don't deserve it"she said with a smile. "My name's Lena, by the way."

He held her eyes, nodded, and gestured towards the food on the spit, "There's squirrel an' rabbit if you're hungry. I got some fresh water here too."

He sat in silence while she nodded her thanks, and moved toward the fire, grabbing a spit of squirrel. Blowing on it briefly to cool it down, she quickly went to town with little groans of pleasure.

"Hmm, least she ain't shy bout eating. Though it's probably been awhile since she ate good" he thought to himself.

After devouring one of the squirrels he watched her finish off her own bottle of water, let out a loud burp, blush and mutter "Excuse me". He pointed to the other squirrel on the spit, "You can have that one too."

She shook her head, "No, you need to eat. Thanks though."

Daryl grabbed the skewer and held it out to her, "Eat. You won't have the energy ta keep goin if ya don't" he growled at her.

She raised a brow at him and took the proffered skewer, "Okay. Thank you." Daryl pulled the rabbit off the skewer and pulled the meat off the bones, storing it away so that they would have food for the next day. He watched as Lena ate the other squirrel, pleased.

Making a decision, he looked over to her as she settled into a curled position around the fire facing him. "Hey" he half waved a hand at her.

Lena looked up at him, "Yea?" "My name's Daryl" he told her. She smiled at him, her eyes already sliding closed with exhaustion, "Nice to meet you Daryl."

Daryl leaned against the cave wall, facing the entrance, with every intention of keeping watch. However his attention soon wandered, and Daryl found himself watching Lena sleep. He wondered who she was, and what she was like. He hadn't met anyone for a long time. He wasn't sure he was ready to spend time with people.

Slowly he began to drift, his body sinking into exhaustion. He tried to fight off sleep but was unsuccessful, having been walking for days himself. The last image seared into Daryl's mind was of this new woman, Lena, smiling in her sleep, the fire reflecting softly on her face. The image soothed him to sleep like nothing had done in recent months.


	3. Misunderstandings

**Hey guys, sorry it's been a few days! I have been busy with work and volunteering with my church. I hope you all enjoy! Comments/reviews/likes are always appreciated! Much love!**

Lena woke up slowly, her body aching, and looked across the fire to where Daryl was lying on the dirt asleep. She watched him sleep and wondered what happened to him to make him so closed off and gruff.

With a sigh, Lena raised herself up and moved quietly over to the coals. Taking stock, Lena noticed that they had little water left after their dinner. She gathered up their respective water containers and decided to go out and get more water, and try to scavenge some food.

Moving quietly, Lena took care not to wake Daryl. She headed out of the mouth of the cave, turning left, moving with caution. She glanced up at the sky and though it was slightly cloudy, she could see it was maybe only mid morning. They had both slept a lot, but then they were both run down and exhausted, so why not take a break, get to know each other, and get some energy back.

She encountered only one walker, and swiftly took it down. After a short walk she heard the running water of a creek and let out a soft exclamation of joy as it came into sight.

After taking off her boots and socks, Lena waded into the water. Lena winced as the cold water bit into her skin through her pants, but grinned as her body quickly adjusted. She decided a quick wash of her face and hair was in order, bending down to splash her face and hair, wringing it out a few times until it felt better. She quickly wound it back up in a bun to avoid any disasters with walkers.

Lena felt a tickling sensation and noticed that there were small crayfish darting around her toes. She decided to use the water container to catch a few and take them back. After catching a dozen crayfish, she climbed out of the creek and pulled on her socks and boots and began her walk back.

Lena walked back into the cave and saw that Daryl was still asleep. "Huh heavy sleeper" she muttered. Lena had gathered some sticks of varying size to stoke the fire with, and also to create skewers for the crayfish.

She took out her small pocketknife and cleaned the crayfish, skewered them and set them to roasting over the fire. She sat watching them for a moment until she heard Daryl's rough voice, "Where the fuck you been?"

Lena sighed-_oh good they were going to argue_-, "I just went to get some water to replace what we drank Daryl. I also caught some crayfish."

Daryl looked at her with a look of anger, "You shouldn't be goin out on your own. Aint safe."

Daryl was pissed. He had woken up a good while earlier, as soon as he had heard Lena's footsteps leaving the cave. He had considered going after her, but decided if the little girl was stupid enough to go off on her own then she deserved whatever came her way. He had waited for nearly an hour, and despite himself, had started to worry.

When he heard footsteps at the entrance of the cave, he had tensed, waiting to hear if it was a walker. When he realized it was Lena, he closed his eyes and waited for her to come back in. His annoyance grew when he heard her cooking something; was she even going to try to wake him up? Eventually his empty stomach and annoyance got the better of him and he spoke up. Now they were staring at each other in anger.

"I can take care of myself Daryl" Lena said, speaking calmly to him, though there was a bite to her words.

Daryl grunted out a laugh, "Right, cuz you were doin so great when I found you."

"Dammit Daryl! I was running for almost two and a half days! What the fuck is your problem?" Lena glared at him.

Daryl sat in silence. He didn't want to tell her the truth. It had been months since he had been with anyone, and now he was ruining it.

Daryl wiped a hand over his face and looked away, "Shit."

"It's been awhile since I had company. My last group was broken up. The girl I was with, she got taken…and I don know where she went or if she's still alive. I finally met up with two others, Maggie and Glen, and we were overrun by walkers…they…they didn't make it." Daryl went quiet.

Lena sat in shocked silence. She felt her heart break at his simple words. She looked at the fire, knowing that if she looked at Daryl she would tear up.

His grief was apparent in his gruff simple words, and it touched something deep inside Lena, something she had thought long dead. Affection.

She had not cared about anyone since the before the apocalypse began. Too many shitheads in life had taken care of that. How was it possible that this rough speaking, quiet man who she had just met was stirring emotion inside her?

Daryl sat looking at Lena, his eyes flicking back and forth from her to the fire. His hands were clenched in his lap. He was worried that after what he had told Lena she wouldn't want to stay. His track record with people surviving or staying was terrible. He was scared, but didn't know what to do about it.

Finally Lena moved and pulled the crayfish off the fire. "Lunch is ready… If you're hungry." Daryl grunted his assent and took a skewer.

They sat in silence, eating all the skewers. Finally, Lena looked at him, capturing his gaze with her intense one and said, "Daryl, I'm glad you told me what you did about your group. I'm sorry I went out without saying anything or taking you with me. I understand that I probably scared you. It won't happen again."

Daryl sat in silence for a moment and then nodded.

Lena sat across the fire from Daryl and took off her shoes and jacket. She slowly unpinned her hair, deciding to let it air dry after having washed it at the creek.

She let out a soft groan of pleasure as her long hair fell free. running her fingers through it to work out any knots.

Daryl watched surreptitiously from across the cave as Lena worked her slim fingers through her hair, a look of bliss on her face, "What's she doin now? Getting comfy?"

Lena looked across at Daryl, smirking when he glanced away, a blush spreading across his cheekbones, and told him, "We should gather more food today and rest. That way we can be fully rested tomorrow. Sound like a plan?"

Daryl thought for a moment, "Sure, I'll go out now and hunt. You rest." He stood up and grabbed his crossbow, heading out.

Lena watched his retreating figure, thinking, "He's such a different man. I don't understand him like ¾ of the time."

She waited till he was gone from the cave and then shed her coat, laying it out on the floor. She stretched her fingers toward the ceiling, arching her back, groaning as her muscles stretched and her back popped.

She slowly moved through a sun salutation, and grinned, knowing that if Daryl walked in right now, he would probably mock her. But in the two years since the world had ended, she had continued doing yoga and practicing her self defense, and in her opinion, it was what had helped keep her alive.

A good twenty minutes later, Lena lay in corpse pose, letting all the tension drain from her body,and began to fall asleep slowly,drifting gently into dreams of strong arms wrapped around her and a soft southern accent whispering in her ear.


	4. Heartaches

**Hey guys, so I always appreciate feedback on whether you are liking/loving the story, so please feel free to comment! Hope you enjoy! **

Daryl walked back into the cave around what he judged to be early evening. There were was a storm brewing, and it had chased him back to the cave, spitting cold rain the whole way.

He had a turkey slung over his shoulder and was ready to show it proudly to Lena, but kept quiet when he noticed that she was still sleeping. He set the bird down and settled down to clean it. He enjoyed keeping his hands busy now that there was little to do in this world but survive. He remembered how Beth had yelled at him to do more than that. To live.

He looked across the cave to look at Lena sleeping. She seemed so peaceful, her dark hair strewn partially across her face, her hands cupped under her face. His own hands itched to push her hair back and so he could watch her sleep without it in his way.

"Shit! Daryl, tha fuck is your problem?" He thought to himself.

He didn't know how to deal with these emotions and it troubled him. He couldn't make a connection only to have it ripped away again. He hadn't known how to go on without Beth. He had almost killed himself after Maggie and Glenn.

How was he supposed to trust his emotions and Lena to not destroy what little humanity was left in him? He should leave. He should run. His hands started shaking.

Daryl felt his heart racing and had to get up. He walked to the entrance of the cave, and barely noticed that it had started to rain and storm in earnest. It would make for an easier getaway, Lena would never be able to track him in this weather.

He took a step forward into the rain, and stopped as he felt the icy rain hit his face. He closed his eyes tight, and the fear gripped him. He stood frozen trying to figure out what to do.

Suddenly, he felt a warm hand grip his upper arm. He flinched hard, until he realized that it was Lena and not a walker. She was standing next to him in the rain. She looked up at him, silent. He had no words, only fear. He opened his mouth trying to say something, anything…but couldn't.

Lena looked up at him and saw fear in his eyes, but couldn't understand why. So she took her hand off of his arm, took his hand and stood in the rain with him.

She had woken from her nap and had seen Daryl's things and the dressed turkey, but no Daryl. She had gotten up to investigate, worried that something had happened, and had found him standing at the cave entrance, drenched by the rain, shaking with some fear that he couldn't articulate.

Now, Lena could feel Daryl shaking beside her, and though she wanted to wrap him in her arms, she knew that he was barely tolerating her holding his hand. Finally, she felt him still. She looked up at him, and saw that his face was blank, emotionless.

She took her chance, squeezing his hand,"Daryl, let's go back inside, come on."

She tugged gently on his hand, leading him back in the cave towards the fire. Daryl sat down heavily by the fire and looked at it with blank eyes.

Lena gathered more wood from the pile to add to the small fire. They needed to get warm and dry and couldn't do so with such a small fire.

Lena sat down beside Daryl and noticed he was shivering again, this time from the cold.

"Daryl. Daryl" she spoke his name softly, insistently, as though he were a wounded animal.

He looked up at her, "We need to take off our wet clothes and get under blankets to stay warm" Lena told him.

He stared and nodded after a moment and slowly stood. Lena moved to the other side of the fire where her trench and backpack were. She began to strip off her clothes and lay them out to dry, thankful that she had clean underwear and sports bra on.

Shivering in the cold, she pulled on her jacket, and stood as near the fire as she could. She looked over at Daryl who stood in his wet pants.

"Why aren't you taking off your wet stuff?" she asked.

"I aint got any boxers underneath" he muttered. Lena pressed her lips together, suppressing a laugh, and went to her backpack.

"Here" she said and tossed him a blanket, "Take off your wet stuff and put this on." Lena turned away, waiting until Daryl said "Ok, I'm good".

She pulled out an emergency blanket pack from her backpack and un-wrapped it. "Why don't we use our packs for pillows and sleep under this, share body heat?"

Daryl looked at her, secretly uneasy. "Sure" he said quietly. She put her backpack down next to his, lay down, and waited for him.

Daryl wrapped the blanket tighter around his waist and eased himself down next to her, afraid of the skin contact, afraid of how good she might smell, afraid of his emotions….afraid.

He pulled the blanket up over them and stiffened when he felt her wiggle back against him, seeking out more heat. She sighed in contentment as the blanket reflected the heat of the fire and their body heat. Slowly drifting into sleep, Lena felt Daryl relax and slip an arm around her waist. She smiled softly, it was just like her dream from the other day...his arms were so strong.

"Night Daryl...sweet dreams" she whispered.

Daryl felt Lena falling asleep in his arms. He slowly relaxed enough to put an arm around her waist, feeling his roughened hand against her smooth, tanned skin.

Her smile spreading across her lips and the whispered words, "Night Daryl, sweet dreams" warmed him through like no fire could. He stroked her forearm with his thumb gently, "G'night Lena...sweet dreams" he whispered back.

He drifted off himself, inhaling the rain scent of her skin. Daryl felt a sense of peace wash over him, pulling Lena closer to his body as he fell to sleep.


	5. Run!

**Hey guys, you may have noticed that I've gone back and done some editing and added some to this story. That is because this was my first story and I re-read and realized how poorly it was done, and decided it needed an upgrade! So I hope you enjoy, and please review! There will be more chapters added, as I had a dream the other night and had a stroke of inspiration. (No, seriously lol) Thank you for reading! xoxoxo**

* * *

The next morning Daryl and Lena picked their way through the forest, walking as swiftly and silently as possible.

They spoke rarely, each reflecting on their previous shared evening of intimacy. Daryl had taken the lead, with Lena at his back. He was deep in thought about the previous evening. He hadn't been that intimate and physically close with anyone in a very long time, and frankly it worried him.

He never wanted to feel the same hopelessness and despair that he had gone through after losing Beth, and watching Glenn and Maggie die. He had shut himself off to others, often slinking away when he saw survivors at a distance. Better to be alone than be hurt again.

But now, he was connecting with Lena, sharing his food, his safety, his life. In this new world, intimacy happened quickly, he knew that, but it still frightened the shit out of him. He had loved the feeling of having her in his arms, and had gotten up quickly that morning when he realized that he had an erection that felt like it was the size of his arm. He had wanted to follow through on the fantasies he had of her riding him, taking him deep inside her while she moaned his name…GOD he needed to think of anything else.

Lena was walking behind Daryl, contemplating him and their evening together. She had felt his arms around her in the morning before he had gotten up and started to prepare for their leaving, as well as his firm arousal pressed against her.

She hadn't been with a man in nearly two years. She had shunned sex before the apocalypse after getting out of an abusive relationship that had nearly killed her, and now, a year and a half into the apocalypse, there were few prospects left, even if she did want to.

Which Lena was starting to question.

Before the world ended, she had been not picky, but had a so called "screening process" as her dead best friend used to joke.

Once you have a boyfriend that nearly beats you to death, you learn how to notice the warning signs. She would go out with guys, but would always hesitate to take that step and get serious or emotional.

Lena knew that she probably would never have ended up with Daryl in the old world, but then the person she had been was very different.

Lena thought about his body pressed against hers the previous night; about how much she had wanted to kiss him, and knew that if she had, he might have bolted. Lena knew if she wanted to pursue something with Daryl, she would have to move slowly with the emotional wounds Daryl was struggling with.

Suddenly, Daryl put up his hand in a "Stop" motion, and motioned for her to hide behind a tree. It was at that moment that Lena heard a crashing noise coming towards them.

She peered around the tree and saw movement in between the branches. Moments later, three deer came running out of the trees about 500 yards ahead of them.

She glanced over at Daryl, wondering if he would bring one down, when Lena and Daryl both heard the telltale moans of walkers in pursuit.

Looking over to Daryl, Lena asked quietly, "What do we do? They're coming right for us!" He nodded and then muttered, "Shit!" as at least half a dozen walkers came out of the trees ahead of them.

"We make a run around them, and hope the deer are distraction enough" Daryl whispered to Lena. The walkers were getting closer, their moans getting louder.

Daryl whispered loudly, "NOW!" and took off running with Lena hot on his heels around the right side of the walkers. As they ran by, Daryl saw at least another dozen walkers coming through the trees behind the first 6 they had seen.

"Shit shit shit" he thought, running faster, tossing a glance behind him to make sure Lena was close by.

After nearly a mile of running flat out, they came to a stop, listening. "I….don't h..hear anything…" Lena panted out.

Daryl listened a moment longer and heard a growing moaning sound on the wind.

"Damn, come on" he muttered.

They took off once again, heading north. After what felt like an eternity to Lena, they suddenly spilled out into a large overgrown backyard of a house.

They both stood, gasping for air, looking around. They were in a cul-de-sac, with a house on each side a little further up from the one they were at.

Daryl moved slowly through the yard, around the house and onto the road. Lena looked around, and up the road at the relatively untouched houses. Turning to Daryl she gave him a small smile, "We can rest here! There might be food."

He nodded and the moved up the street to a large yellow plantation style home. After banging on the front door, they waited to see if any walkers came to the front door, and after a moment went inside and cleared the house, finding it thankfully empty of walkers.

Lena walked through the house finding it still relatively stocked with canned items, sheets, and in the upstairs bedrooms, some clothes that might fit her. She came back downstairs to find Daryl peering out the front door, keeping watch for the walkers they had been running from.

"Any sign of them?" she asked softly. He shook his head, remaining silent.

Lena looked to the other houses, wondering if they were as untouched as this one. "Why don't we go pick through these houses, see if we can't get some more supplies so we can hole up here for a good bit." Daryl nodded again, and grabbed his crossbow.

They moved through the nearby houses where they found extra sheets and blankets to nail over the windows. Lena filled two pillowcases with canned goods, and two pairs of boots that she was hopeful would fit. Daryl grunted when she held up a man's button down shirt, shaking his head when she laughed at his refusal to take it.

When they got back to their house they used the desk from the study to put in front of the front door, and blocked the back with the kitchen table.

Lena stood with Daryl in the living room for a moment and then said, "I'm going upstairs to the woman's bedroom I found, there looks like there might be clothes that would fit me."

Daryl just nodded and said, "I'll be in the kitchen."

"Cool, make me a sandwich, will ya?" Lena quipped over her shoulder as she walked upstairs…and she swore she heard him give a low, rough laugh.


	6. Sanctuary

Daryl laughed at Lena's sandwich comment, mostly because it reminded him of how his brother Merle used to talk to just about every woman he had been with. To hear it from her was cute, not rude. He liked that she was spunky.

As Daryl searched the cabinets for food he also searched himself and realized that he had been thinking about having sex with Lena all damn not for running from those walkers he would have had a huge boner, and probably would have had a hard time explaining it.

He had been gruff with her when she had offered him the man's shirt at the other house, but he had been secretly touched that she had thought of him. It wasn't his style at all of course, but he had grabbed a couple of the man's flannels and sweaters. Now that it was getting colder, he couldn't risk getting a chill or sick.

He half smiled, thinking of her sandwich comment as he rummaged through the pillowcases, trying to find something that was still good. After pulling out a few cans of soup, Daryl found himself going upstairs to check on Lena and see if what he had would suffice for dinner.

He stopped outside the bedroom that Lena was in, the door partially closed. He peered in through the crack and saw her bare back, her long lean legs, her ass, barely covered in blue cotton panties. She was changing, and he should walk away…now.

Stepping away and walking into the other bedroom, he sat down heavily on the bed, trying the get the image of her body out of his head. He had seen it the other night, but god, it was delicious. He already had a hard on. Setting the cans of soup down on the bedside table(why had he held onto those?)-he shook his head, and lay back on the bed, hoping a nap might get her out of his head.

Lena was amazed that she had found some baby wipes in another house and decided to "shower". After wiping down her face, neck and body, she felt more clean and refreshed than she had in days.

Walking over to the dresser, she found an almost empty bottle of perfume. Sniffing it, Lena hummed her approval and spritzed it onto her wrists, neck and stomach.

Poking around in the dresser she found a new pair of underwear and a bra that would fit her serviceably well. Excited, she quickly swapped out her blue cotton panties and sports bra for the more exotic black lace set. She knew it was impractical, but damn, after two years, it felt good to feel womanly again.

She pulled on a new pair of jeans and a warm sweater and walked out into the hallway, noticing that the master bedroom door was open.

She poked her head inside to see Daryl fast asleep on the bed, his arm thrown up over his face. It was an endearing sight that warmed her heart.

"Lena….oh god, yes" Daryl murmured in his sleep. Lena's eyebrows shot up.

She stood still, waiting to see if he had anything else to say, and found Daryl silent. Smirking, she grabbed the soup cans and retreated to the kitchen to cook the soup that Daryl had left out.

Lena was pleased to see the stove was gas, and still working. She lit the fire, and poured the soup into a pan on the stove. After a few minutes the soup was heated, and Lena poured it into two large mugs she had found. Grabbing two spoons, she headed upstairs to bring Daryl some dinner.

Lena stood at the foot of the bed and gently spoke, "Daryl….Daryl. I have dinner."

She watched him groan, rub his face, nod and then sit up. She smiled at him and handed him the mug of soup. Walking around to the other side of the bed, Lena sat down beside Daryl and reclined against the headboard.

They sat in companionable silence, eating the soup, until Lena asked, "So what would you do if someone found a cure, and everything went back to normal?"

Daryl sat in silence for awhile, thinking. "I dunno. Take a shower I guess" he shrugged.

He looked over to her and smirked. Lena giggled softly, "Yea, me too…and then sleep in a real bed like this for like a week."

Daryl nodded, the bed was pretty great. Lena grabbed his arm suddenly, "Ooo you know what I would love? PIZZA!" she grinned at him widely, excitement shining in her eyes. Daryl tensed under her hand, and looked up at Lena. The smile slowly slid off of her face. She slid her hand off of his arm and put it in her lap. They sat in silence, eating their dinner.

Daryl's heart was racing, and all he could think of was the feel of Lena's soft hand on his bare arm. He wanted to grab her and kiss her, but all he had done was tense up when she touched him. He was so damaged that he was afraid of a simple touch.

Lena was frustrated. She wanted to kiss Daryl, she wanted to touch him. But when she did, she felt him withdraw. How was she supposed to make him feel safe? Lena contemplated multiple ideas while she finished her dinner. Noticing that Daryl had finished his as well and had set it on the nightstand, she set hers aside as well.

She turned to Daryl, "I have a question for you Daryl. How long has it been since you've had sex?"

She waited patiently while Daryl sat in silence. Finally he spoke, "Why you wanna know that woman?"

Lena made a sudden move, straddling Daryl's lap, pushing her groin into his. "I think you know why" she murmured.

She felt Daryl stiffen again trying to put space between them, and she grabbed his shoulder, holding him in place, "Daryl, I know you want me. I can literally feel it right now." He sat in silence, trying to hold himself still.

Lena pushed the hair out of his face and leaned in, kissing him softly on the lips. She felt him soften beneath her lips, responding. Their kiss grew heated, a moan coming from Lena's throat as she ground her hips into his.

Daryl broke away, "Shit woman" he whispered, breathless. "This ain't a good idea."

"That's not what your body is saying" Lena whispered into his ear as she kissed his neck softly, nipping down to his collarbone.

Daryl groaned, she was driving him crazy and he was certain this was going to lead to bad things for both of them. Lena sat back and looked down at Daryl, "I want you Daryl, right now; and for as long as we have each other in the future. We might die soon, or we might live for a lot longer. But all I know for certain is that it's been a long time for both of us, and that we deserve to feel good, to make each other feel."

Daryl looked up at her in silence, and then nodded. Lena pulled her shirt off and threw it aside. Daryl looked up at her, taking in the sight of her round breasts encased in a lacy black bra. Daryl reached up and pulled Lena's head down for a fierce kiss, his tongue skimming over her lower lip.

Lena moaned into his mouth, pushing her hips and chest into his body. The broke apart as Daryl lowered his head to her neck, working slowly lower. His lips and teeth skimmed over her collarbone, making Lena gasp. She pushed him back, "I want your clothes off" she gasped out.

She lifted herself off of the bed and quickly shucked her pants, shoes and socks, leaving her in just her underwear. Daryl followed suit, though having no boxers, leaving himself fully naked before her. Lena's gaze travelled all over his body, taking in the tanned skin, scars, and ohhhhh lordy….she smirked and looked back up at Daryl.

He was watching her with hunger in his eyes.

She reached up and undid her hair, watching him, seeing his eyes burn with lust. She moved and pressed herself up against Daryl, reveling in the feeling of his hands on her hips. She slid her hand down his body, and grasped his erection firmly.

Daryl groaned as she dropped to her knees before him. Lena started to work her hands slowly up and down his shaft and around his balls, pulling, squeezing. Daryl's breath came in quicker gasps, and then a loud moan when he felt her mouth take him. She started working up and down his shaft, skimming her teeth on him occasionally.

Daryl fisted his hand in her hair and bucked his hips, groaning. Lena pulled away after a few more moments, "We don't want to waste too much of your energy now do we?" she said smirking up at him.

Daryl kept his hand curled around her head and pulled her up, pulling her against him for a rough kiss. He used one hand to unclasp her bra and rip it off of her, while the other dipped into her panties, his fingers swirling against her clit. Lena moaned loudly into Daryl's mouth, the sensation of his mouth on hers, his fingers torturing her clit, sending waves of pleasure over her, all hitting her at once.

Daryl broke away from the kiss, and moved his mouth to her right breast, kissing the nipple softly before he took it into his mouth, licking it while holding it between his teeth. His fingers slipped inside of her, crooking and stroking her gspot. Lena moaned loudly, her hips bucking against his hand, her hand fisted in Daryl's hair. There were so many sensations, building….she thought she was going to die of pleasure.

Daryl switched his mouth to her other breast, and his fingers picked up their pace on her clit and inside her. Lena whimpered and moaned "Oh god, Daryl! Oh god, don't stop!"

If Daryl hadn't pushed her up against a wall, she surely would have collapsed. Lena felt her orgasm building, "Oh Daryl! I'm coming!" she moaned loud, pushing her hips into his hand. Lena felt stars explode behind her eyes as Daryl captured her mouth with his, swallowing her cries of pleasure.

His hand stilled inside her as her orgasm ended. He pulled away from her mouth and smiled down at her, "Damn woman, you're beautiful when you yell my name." Lena's breath came in gasps as she leaned against the wall. Daryl ran his hands down her side and pulled off her underwear.

Lena stepped out of them, and pushed Daryl to the bed. She sat astride him, her nerves still buzzing from the orgasm. She swirled her hips, feeling Daryl's erection press against her wet center. Daryl groaned, pushing his hips up against her harder. Lena leaned down and nipped at his chest, taking his nipple into her mouth, licking it. Daryl swore, "Fuck!"

His hand went up to her breast, pulling at the nipple, rubbing it, pulling a keening noise from Lena. She pushed his hand away and lifted her hips up. She grasped his erection, with one hand and positioned it at her slick entrance. She lowered herself slowly, feeling him fill her, entirely. Lena sat a still just a moment and then began to ride Daryl.

She set the pace, slow at first, gradually increasing the pace. Daryl thrust his hips up as Lena brought herself down, hitting her gspot, eliciting loud moans from her each time. "I want you deeper Daryl" Lena gasped out.

Daryl sat up and held her hips still, pulling a whimper from Lena. He pulled Lena's hips harder against his, pushing himself deeper into her, eliciting moans from both of them. Their chests were pressed tightly against each other; their hips started pushing and grinding, their moans and panting getting louder. Daryl worked his hand between them and started working her clitoris again, pushing her closer to another orgasm.

He felt her walls tightening around him as she bounced on top of him. He felt the heat of his own orgasm building low in his balls and moaned out Lena's name. His hips started bucking harder, pushing himself into her, hitting her gspot repeatedly, working her clit. Lena and Daryl clung to each other, shouting out each others' names as their orgasms hit. Lena arched her back, feeling Daryl unleash inside of her, moaning loudly "Oh Daryl!"

They slowly stilled and Lena collapsed on top of Daryl. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back in slow motions. "I'm not squishing you, am I?" she murmured into Daryl's ear. She felt his laugh rumble through her chest.

"You're so tiny I could lift ya with one arm" he chuckled. Lena laughed and rolled off anyway, but snuggled against his side. His arm curled around her and pushed her hair out of her face.

"Get some sleep" he murmured, brushing a kiss against her forehead. Lena smiled and closed her eyes, pleased. Daryl watched her fall asleep, and was soon feeling sleepy himself, but before they drifted off, he pulled the blankets over them and then pulled her closer to him. He felt a sense of happiness settle in his chest as he fell asleep.


	7. History

**Heyyyy guys! So I had a dream the other night after the end of the midseason finale, and it really gave me some inspiration to come back to this fic and revise and continue. I hope you like it, and I really like where I am going to go with it! Please review! thank you for reading! xoxoxo **

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The next morning Lena woke, wrapped in Daryl's arms, snuggled under the down comforter. She grinned and stretched slowly, not wanting to wake him.

Moving gently, she eased herself from the bed and pulled on her underwear and the oversized sweater of Daryl's before grabbing their soup mugs from last night and heading downstairs.

Looking out the window in the kitchen she could see it was another overcast, grey day. –_Perfect for staying in bed-_ she thought to herself with a smirk. She found a roll of paper towels and wiped out their mugs, rinsing them with a little water, and set them down on the counter.

She hesitated, not knowing if she should make breakfast and take it upstairs for them to have in bed, or if that would freak Daryl out. She stood, tapping her foot, trying to make up her mind, when suddenly; she heard the floor creak behind her.

Whirling around with a small gasp, she pressed her hand to her heart when she saw it was Daryl. "Oh my god Daryl, you scared me! Say something next time!" she scolded with a laugh.

He stood in the doorway of the kitchen dressed in his pants with no shirt and bare feet. Lena didn't think she had ever seen him look better.

"Sorry" he muttered.

She smiled at him, "It's ok, I was just teasing. Aren't you cold?" she asked, gesturing to his bare chest.

He gestured to her, "Ya took my shirt."

She smirked, "You took others yesterday."

He frowned, "What ya doin down here?"

Lena shrugged, "Trying to decide what to make for breakfast. Are you hungry?" she asked tentatively.

Daryl made a noncommittal noise, "I guess. Don't trouble yerself."

Lena grinned, "Alright, sit down. I think I have some powdered eggs and some canned beans, sound good?"

Daryl grunted, not saying anything as he sat down at the island bar.

Lena smiled and dug through their supplies till she found a can of black beans and the powdered eggs, working steadily to prepare the food. She hummed softly, and then began singing a French Creole lullaby her dad had sang to her.

Daryl watched Lena work, surprised when she began singing in another language. Her voice was soft but strong, and compelling; he found himself leaning forward to try and better hear what was being sung.

When she turned around with two paper plates full of well spiced eggs and beans, Lena was surprised to see Daryl looking at her with a strange look in his eyes.

She handed him a plate and set hers down beside him, pulling out the chair to sit down. Settling in she smiled at him, "Dig in! It's just got some spices in it to mask the fake egg flavor."

Daryl nodded and took a few bites before commenting around a full mouth, "It's good."

Lena gulped down a hot mouthful, gasping, "Hot! Ow!...Thanks."

They sat in silence for long minutes while they ate until Daryl asked hesitantly, "What were you singing?"

Lena looked up at him, to see him staring at her, "It's a French Creole lullaby my dad used to sing to me when I was a little girl. He was French Creole, and my mom was Cherokee."

He stared at her and then asked, "Was?"

She nodded, "They both died when it all first started happening. They went together, which is how they would have wanted. I had to put them down." She took a deep breath, "I had to put my little brother down too….he was only 17."

Lena looked down at her plate of almost finished eggs and felt her stomach turn. Pushing away from the bar, she stood and grabbed her plate, "You want this before I toss it?" she asked offering Daryl the plate.

He shook his head; sorry he had pushed her to talk about her family. Lena turned away and tossed her plate into the garbage, and stood staring out the window.

"You know, before all this started, my life wasn't all that great. I mean I had a loving mom and dad, a great little brother, but I was kind of a shitty person." She sighed and continued.

"I failed out of college, and drank too much. Partied with my friends too often, and dated the wrong guys. Nobody really horrible, just idiots. At least until my last boyfriend. Jason." She shuddered slightly, the memories of him still enough to haunt her.

"He was beautiful. Like an angel. But his face hid the soul of a devil. When we would go out, he would want me to dress up and look good, so everyone could see what a hottie he had for a girlfriend. But then, when other guys would check me out, or hit on me, even though I wouldn't return the attention, he would get angry with me."

She turned to face Daryl, and he watched as her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach, as though she was holding herself together.

"I still remember the first time it happened. We had just gotten back from a New Years party where some drunk guy had kissed me, and he was so mad. We had been fighting in the taxi the whole way home, and when we got inside, he started drinking more. I was drunk, but I still had enough sense to try and talk sensibly. He was just screaming at me, telling me what a whore I was. That's when he threw his drink in my face. Then he slapped me. Then he grabbed me by throat and choked me till I passed out."

Lena stared at the counter top as she spoke, letting the story fall out. She glanced up and locked eyes with Daryl, "Over the next eight months he broke two of my ribs, my right wrist, and fractured my eye socket."

She lifted up Daryl's sweater and showed him the long white scar across her ribcage, "This is from the last time we were ever together. He stabbed me, and I almost died. I finally left him, pressed charges and sent him to jail. It was about three months later that the world ended and he was still in jail."

She dropped the sweater and smirked darkly, "I went there after everything had gone to hell, and found him, turned. I dropped him and then sat and cried for a while before moving on."

She stared at Daryl and smiled grimly, "So that's my life story. Now you know you aren't the only one who has seen pain and death."

Daryl didn't know what to say, he only knew that if the man Jason were here now, he would kill him for her. He stood from the chair and came to stand in front of Lena who was wide eyed and looking overcome, and spoke in a soft gruff voice, "If he were here now, I would kill him for what he did to ya. Aint right."

Lena stared up into Daryl's blue eyes, and blinked rapidly, feeling her own fill with tears. She knew what Daryl had said was probably the most emotion he would be able to share with her, and she appreciated it.

Daryl could see Lena's eyes filling with tears, and it wrenched at him. He wanted to be able to be better at expressing his emotions, but he didn't know how.

Struck by inspiration, he remembered Beth and her fierce hugs. He moved slowly and wrapped his arms around Lena, drawing her close, rejoicing when her arms came around his waist and her face nuzzled into his chest.

He felt a small shudder run through her body, and tightened his arms, holding her until the shaking stopped. Lena pulled away slightly and smiled sheepishly up at Daryl, "Thank you."

He shook his head, "It's nuthin." She squeezed his biceps, and leaned up, brushing a kiss on his cheek, "It's something darlin."

She pulled out of his loose embrace and walked back upstairs. Daryl watched her go, feeling something warm unfurl in his chest and start to spread, giving him hope that they could be happy. It was a dangerous feeling, but one he didn't want to let go of.


	8. Guilt

**Okay guys, so before someone asks, I am pulling some details from the show, but other things are completely different. So there you go. I hope you like the new stuff and the updates I've made to the old chapters! :D Please review! It means a lot to know what you think! xoxox**

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Daryl followed Lena upstairs after he had checked the back door and front, making sure there were no walkers lingering. He found her lying in bed, reading a mystery novel.

He stood in the doorway watching her read, her brow furrowed in concentration, until she sensed him staring and glanced up. She smiled brightly at him, "Hey, why don't you join me?" she patted the empty side of the bed.

When he still hesitated in the doorway, she smiled, "Come on, I won't bite." He shook his head and strode over quickly, climbing into the bed, a small shiver running over him as the warmth that had accumulated under the covers from her body engulfed him.

Lena saw his shiver and frowned, "Are you cold? Do you want your sweater back? I can put mine on instead."

Daryl had started shaking his head halfway through her speaking, "Nah. I'm ok. You keep it."

Lena sighed and then leaned into his chest, resting her head on his shoulder, just under his chin. She could feel him stiffen, and then after a long moment, his arm came around and rested around her waist, holding her close.

"Will you pull the comforter up a bit?" she asked glancing up to Daryl's face. He said nothing, but bent slightly around her, and pulled the comforter up around both of them.

Lena sighed in contentment as their shared body heat warmed the bed even more. She glanced down the book she had been reading and then back up to Daryl, she wondered if he would mind if she kept reading?

The book wasn't great, but it had been nearly a year since she had been able to get her hands on a book for something other than starting a fire.

She began to read again, and after a page, was surprised when Daryl's voice broke through her concentration. "Would ya read out loud?" When she glanced up at him in surprise, she saw a blush cross his cheeks.

"Ya have a nice voice is all. Might be nice ta hear what your readin" he muttered. Lena smiled at him, touched by his sweet nervousness, "Of course. So this book is about a cop whose best friend was murdered, and now he and the widow are trying to figure out who did it and why."

Daryl nodded and settled back against the pillows, closing his eyes, waiting for her to continue. Lena leaned against his chest and opened the book and began reading.

For the next hour she read, until her voice became hoarse and tired. Closing the book she set it on the bedside table, and lay back down next to Daryl who had apparently fallen asleep. She smiled softly and brushed a thick lock of hair out of his face, her fingers smoothing over the lines on his forehead.

He so rarely smiled, but he had the facial lines of someone with a lot of expressions. Her fingers skimmed over his face so lightly, as if not to be there, until they reached his lips, her thumb brushing across his slightly fuller bottom lip.

Her eyes flashed to his bright blue ones when they slid open, locking on her face. He studied her for a moment. "Can't let a man sleep huh?" he asked softly, with no trace of malice or anger in his voice.

Lena brushed her thumb across his lower lip again, and spoke just as softly, "I'm sorry, I got tired of reading, and you distracted me."

Daryl raised a brow at her in question. She stared at him, her eyes burning with a lustful hunger, and then let her fingers trace from his lips, across his cheekbones, down his neck. Her fingertips whispered at his hip, tracing his taut muscles there, before moving lightly to his arm, her fingers gently tracing the muscle and tattoos.

With each movement of her fingers, Daryl felt his pulse pick up, his eyes never leaving hers. She continued her mapping of his arms and torso, her fingernails scrapping his skin in the most sensual way, sending little jolts of pleasure through his body.

Finally, she leaned in, closing the distance between them and kissed Daryl, softly at first, gently, letting him feel her emotions in a way she couldn't verbalize.

Soon though Lena found herself deepening the kiss and found Daryl's hands on her waist, pulling her onto his lap, his hands pushing up the sweater to get placement on her skin.

Lena wound a hand through Daryl's hair, pulling him closer, nipping at his lower lip, a low moan escaping her when he grasped her hips tighter and held her tighter against him, kissing her breath away.

Lena broke away and leaned her forehead against Daryl's breathing heavily, "Wow….i haven't made out like that since I was in high school" she whispered.

To her surprise, Daryl laughed softly, "Well, I don't think you forgot how ta." Lena laughed with him and then gently ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back so she could look into his eyes better.

She hesitated before speaking, "Daryl, I-I really enjoyed last night….like _really _enjoyed it. But I – if you don't want to have sex again, that's fine. Or if you do, that's fine with me too. I just want us to be on the same page. I want us to know each other as best we can, I guess before we do it again….if that's ok?" Lena cringed, -_shit! That sounded so bad, and immature and he's going to get mad and leave!-_she panicked.

Daryl sat still for a long moment processing what she had said, and what he thought she was saying. Finally he looked up at her and nodded, "I aint very good at all that, but I'll try to talk a bit more." He watched as a look of relief washed over Lena's face and knew he had made the right decision.

Lena leaned back down and kissed him again, her fingers wound tightly in his hair. "Thank you for trying" she whispered as she broke away. She lay back down, her head on his chest, her fingers still absentmindedly tracing over his chest and collarbones.

Daryl lay still, thinking he should try to talk to her about the last group he had been with, Glenn and Maggie, but he didn't know if he was ready to open up about it just yet. He barely knew Lena…._but this is how you get to know her_, a small voice whispered inside him.

He opened his mouth and came to a screeching halt. He didn't know how to start. Sighing in frustration he started again, "I was with Maggie and Glenn before this. We had all been part of a bigger group. It got broken up when tha prison we were livin in got blowed ta hell."

Lena was giving Daryl her full attention, eager to learn a little bit more about this mysterious man her life was now linked with.

He continued, "I ended up with Maggie's sister Beth. We were survivin, an had found a place to stay we thought was safe, kinda like this. It got overrun, an while I was fightin off the walkers, she got taken."

Lena saw his hand ball into a fist and pound into the bed, "They took her, and I chased tha damn car for miles, but it was long gone."

He shook his head, his jaw clenched, "I found Maggie and Glenn tryin to find tha rest of tha group, an we were only together for bout two days when a small herd came through our camp. Maggie had a hurt leg an couldn't move as fast, an Glenn ran out of bullets…."

He stopped for a moment and Lena grabbed his hand in hers, twining their fingers together, waiting for him to pull away, but was surprised when he squeezed her hand tightly.

"Maggie yelled at me to get out of there, an then….she an Glenn made their last stand with her guns. I got as far as I could…but I still heard them die." His voice broke on the last part of his story, and when Lena looked up to his face, she could see he was fighting tears.

Heart breaking, she reached out and wrapped Daryl in her arms, and pulled him into her, letting his head rest on her shoulder. She stroked his hair softly, "Shh Daryl. You did what they asked. Sometimes in this world, it's better to get to chose how you go out. It's what my parents did, and what your friends did and they gave us a chance to live."

She felt a shudder run through him, and then felt the warmth of tears soaking her sweater. Her throat clogged with emotion. When she looked down at the large, strong man in her arms, and saw the huge scars on his back, indicative of abuse, Lena felt tears stream down her face.

Here they were, two incredibly broken people in a destroyed world, trying to learn how to trust and be normal again. She had no idea how to make them whole again, but she thought maybe, just maybe they could do it together.


	9. Target Practice

**Hey y'all! I hope you are liking the new chapters, I haven't gotten any reviews! Please please if you like what I'm doing, or even if you don't, drop me a review! Thank you all so much for reading! xoxo **

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Lena looked down at Daryl's sleeping form and smiled softly, deciding to let him rest. In this world, you took the down time you had and made good use of it. She slid out of bed and stripped off Daryl's sweater, pulling on her jeans, bra and sweater.

Tiptoeing out of the room she pulled her socks and boots on once she was downstairs, and began to go through their limited supplies to see what kind of canned goods they had, and how long they would last.

After a short but thorough examination of their supplies she had determined that they had probably enough for a month, if they also were able to supplement the canned goods with wild game.

She wandered through the house to the study, where she had found the novel, and began a more thorough inspection of the books there. Most appeared to be law books, but a smaller bookshelf in the corner held novels exclusively.

Suddenly, an atlas of Georgia caught her eye. Grabbing it from the shelf, she sat down at the desk and opened it, studying the maps carefully, flipping back and forth from the index to new maps, trying to figure out exactly where they were.

A gust of wind outside the house hissed through the window and Lena shuddered, breaking her attention from the atlas. She stood and went out to the living room to grab a blanket from the large steamer trunk behind the couch.

Wrapping herself in the blanket, she sat back down and stared at the maps, -_how do I figure out where we are?-_she thought to herself.

Staring at the desk absentmindedly, she was suddenly struck by a thought-_MAIL!-_and began rifling through the papers on the desk until with a soft triumphant noise, she held up a water bill with the houses' address on the front.

"1224 Rivers St, Dawsonville, GA" she whispered, a proud grin on her face. She opened the atlas of Georgia again and found where they were on the map and frowned slightly, they were farther from Atlanta than she had thought, but that was good, the city was overrun.

Time to see if she could find a Dawsonville map….she flipped through the index and let out an exclamation of joy, there was one!

Flipping to it, she found that it showed major points of interest, but also the location of a few major stores, and more importantly, a small mall. She would bet any amount of now useless money that there would be a sporting goods store in the mall where she could get a decent handgun and maybe a rifle, if it hadn't been stripped.

If it had, she would just have to check a few other places, and maybe a house or two. Besides, they could both use more clean clothes, food, and if they were being smart, some condoms-neither of them needed a kid during the end of the world. She had the birth control implant in her left arm; it had gone in just months before everything had ended with Jason, and with the world; but it was better to be safe than pregnant.

Lena grinned and bookmarked the page in the atlas with the bill and jumped out of the chair, excited to tell Daryl about what she had found. Halfway up the stairs she paused and wondered; should she wake him?

It was times like these she would appreciate a watch, to actually be able to tell how much time was passing, to know if she was being ass hole by waking him up, or if enough time had passed to just do it.

Sighing, she shrugged and whispered to herself, "Just do it. If he's mad, oh well." She walked quietly into the bedroom and found Daryl still asleep, looking rested and somehow younger. She sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down, brushing his hair out of his face and kissed his sleep-soft lips before whispering, "Daryl…Daryl, wake up darling" and kissing him again.

Soon she felt his lips move against hers and she smiled as he kissed her, his arm snaking out from under the covers to tug at her waist, allowing herself to be drug down next to him.

Daryl pulled her closer, his right leg sliding over top of her to bring him half on top of her, his left arm half holding him up, his right curled around her head and fingers twining in her hair.

He stared down at her for a long moment and then whispered his voice deliciously rough from sleep, "Pretty enjoyable way ta wake me." Lena smirked, "I figured you wouldn't be pleased if I just shook you and yelled your name."

Daryl nodded, not willing to say anything else. Lena cocked her head to the side, her brow furrowing,_-what's going on in his head right now?-_she wondered.

When Daryl said nothing else, she sighed softly and spoke, "Well, I did an inventory of our food, and with the canned goods and powdered eggs, we have enough for about a month, maybe less. If we hunt, we'll last a lot longer. Plus, I found an address for this house downstairs, and I know where we are, so we can go to some of the local stores and check for supplies."

She smiled up at Daryl, proud to have figured all of it out and to have come up with a good plan. Daryl hesitated, it was just the two of them, if anyplace was overrun by walkers, they would have no chance of getting what they needed. But he didn't want to shoot her down out of hand.

"Might be better ta make a scoutin trip first, see what the situation is" he said, locking eyes with Lena. "We don want a surprise, goin in there thinkin it's safe an it's not." He hoped she would see the rationality to his reasoning.

Lena nodded, what Daryl said made sense. She had thought since this was such a small town, and in the outer reaches of Georgia, it would be abandoned, but that wasn't always the case. Walkers migrated, so there very well could be more than was to be expected.

She smiled up at Daryl, "Ok sounds good. Why don't we investigate the houses again and see if there's a car? That'll make getaway quicker. If not, we can check the local roads?" she suggested cautiously.

Daryl nodded, "It's a good plan." He stared down at her and marveled that with just a day's rest, she already looked better than the drawn, sickly looking woman he had met two and a half days ago. He shook his head and bent down, brushing a kiss across her lips before climbing off of her and out of bed.

He stood and held his hand out, "Come on. Ya need ta know how ta use the crossbow." Lena grinned at him from the bed and jumped up, taking his hand, letting out a yelp of excitement.

Daryl and Lena were in the backyard of the house, firing arrows at some couch cushions that Daryl had painted red circles on with spray paint from the garage.

Lena's aim was getting better, and her arrows were steadily making their way towards the center of the target. Daryl stood to the side and gave her occasional instruction.

"Both eyes open" he called softly. Lena sighed and nodded, taking a breath and realigned her sights on the target. She squeezed the trigger gently, and grinned when the bolt flew straight to the center. Spinning, she grinned widely at Daryl who had a ghost of a smile on his own lips.

"All right, now you need ta be able ta do it when ya got walkers comin up on ya" he said seriously.

Lena sighed, exasperated. "I know…but I did good right?"

Daryl nodded sharply, "Yea…jus remember ta keep your eyes open, an be alert."

Lena rolled her eyes but nodded, "Ooookay."

She turned back to the target, her concentration absorbed on loading another bolt.

Daryl tilted his head, he could have sworn he heard something….He stood still, all of his senses on alert.

There it was again….a light groaning noise. Daryl looked at the trees, they were bare and creaking in the autumnal breeze, but what he heard….didn't seem right.

The breeze died, and Daryl heard it louder this time. The moaning of walkers. He moved quickly and grabbed Lena's arm, pointing to the tree line when she made a noise of protest.

"Oh god" she whispered, seeing at least two dozen walkers coming through the trees no more than 1000 feet away.

She and Daryl dropped into a crouch, moving as quickly as they dared back to the house. Once back on the rear porch, they turned and saw more and more walkers stumbling from the forest. None had appeared to notice them yet, but they still moved with caution, opening the back door of the house quietly.

Once back inside they quickly barricaded the door with the table and proceeded to drop the sheets they had nailed over the windows.

Daryl went to the front of the house and peered out the front window, cursing softly when he saw walkers stumbling down the street in front of the house. He went back to the kitchen and whispered to Lena, "Grab some cans of soup, some blankets and let's go."

Lena nodded and stuffed enough food for a few days into her backpack, plus a few bottles of water. They moved slowly upstairs, taking care not to make any noise.

Lena moved silently and swiftly into their bedroom and grabbed the comforter off the bed, going back to the hallway where Daryl stood to the entrance of the attic, his flashlight illuminating the dark stairs.

They closed the door behind them and kept the light beam towards the floor.

Lena pointed to the small circular window across the room, "Turn off the light" she whispered.

Daryl nodded and shut it off; they didn't need anything catching the attention of the walkers.

They stood and stared out the window, watching as more and more walkers streamed from the woods.

"Shit, there must be hundreds of them" Lena whispered. Daryl nodded; he hadn't seen a herd this big since the farm was overrun.

Lena turned away from the window, frightened, and set her backpack down softly before sinking to the floor, resting her head against the bare wood beams.

Daryl sat beside her and laid the comforter over them, setting his cross bow within reaching distance. Lena pulled the novel out of her backpack, "Want me to read?" she asked softly.

Daryl shrugged, might as well, they were in for a long wait if previous experience was any indication of how this was going to go. "Sure…why not" he muttered.

Lena opened the book and read softly; Daryl concentrated on her soft, melodic voice, trying to let it drown out the moans of the dead. He concentrated on the good, and desperately tried to ignore the horrible truth of their world that was marching slowly by.


	10. Safe no More

**Hey y'all! So I kinda can't believe the readership that this story is getting, I keep looking at the stats and being blown away! Thank you thank you! Since in this AU Beth is not dead (goddamn it Walking Dead-WHY!?), there is a very, VERY good chance that she will show up in this story, if you guys would like that, but not in a romantic sense...so yea, if y'all would like that, please review and lemme know! Thank you for reading, following and favoriting! xoxo**

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Hours had passed by and though the moans of the undead had quieted, Daryl and Lena could still faintly hear them from their perch in the attic.

It was pitch black, and once again, Lena wished for a watch so she could determine what time it actually was. She and Daryl had taken turns dozing, but had been woken abruptly a number of times by the sounds of the dead walking on the porch or trying to get in.

Though neither Lena nor Daryl had made noise to indicate there was anything of interest to them, the walkers sometimes got attracted to smell, or sight(if it was moving, or bright colored) and Lena wondered if the blue sheets on the windows were too colorful, and if that is what had gathered the attention of the walkers.

Regardless, they had spent a tense few hours clutching weapons, ready for the onslaught, only relaxing when the sounds of the walkers had abated.

As night edged towards dawn, Lena felt exhaustion fed by fear and tension dragging on her. Her head drooped, her eyes slipping shut…and before she knew it, she was fast asleep, leaning against the attic wall.

Daryl looked over to see Lena fall asleep from where he was standing at the attic window and had been watching the few walkers wander around in the backyard under the moonlight. He glanced back out the window and counted for a third time, taking his time. There only seemed to be about a dozen in the back yard.

If there were that many or fewer in the front, it was a number they could handle. They would wait till morning and count again, and then head down stairs to make sure none had gotten into the house. The doors had been bolted and blocked, but there had been hundreds of walkers.

If the house wasn't secure anymore, they would need to move on.

He moved to where Lena was leaning against the wall fast asleep and sat down beside her on the old patio cushions they had found and reclined his head. –_Might as well get some rest too -_he thought to himself.

Stretching his legs out before him he glanced over at Lena, and winced when he saw what an uncomfortable pose her neck was in. Reaching over, he gently took her head in a hand and guided her body downwards until her head rested on his lap. He shifted the large comforter until she was fully covered and then pulled his sweater on before resting his own head back against the wood wall of the attic.

Soon both were fast asleep, with the sky slowly being shaded in pinks and reds as the sun rose.

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Lena woke, the sun hitting her face, irritating her sleep heavy eyes. She started to stretch and stopped, realizing she was lying down. Puzzled she cracked an eye open and looked up to see Daryl's sleeping form above her, his chest rising and falling softly, an occasional snore escaping him.

Making a move to sit up Lena felt resistance around her waist and looked down; smiling when she saw Daryl had his arm around her waist. She lay back down and twined her fingers through his, looking at the callouses, scratches, bruises and scars covering Daryl's hands.

She wondered if the damage was from the same abuse that had left the horrible scars on his back…but probably not she thought. The damage seemed to be from years of hard use, from hunting, from working, and being the kind of man who did a hard day's work.

She smiled and wondered what profession Daryl had been in before this whole mess had happened to the world. She would have to ask him.

She was running her fingers lightly over the back of his hand when Daryl woke, the light sensation rousing him.

Daryl stared sleepily down at her, his face relaxed and slightly confused from sleep. Lena gave him a smile that was full of affection, and whispered, "Morning sleepyhead."

He quirked his lips to the side, his version of a half-smile, and whispered back, his voice scratchy with sleep, "Mornin back atcha." He pushed aside a lock of her hair and stared at her, content to stay where they were for a few more minutes.

Lena closed her eyes as Daryl's thumb caressed her cheek, warming her deep inside.

They both stiffened when the back porch creaked loudly, and the sound of walkers scratching and moaning permeated the restful quiet of the attic.

Lena moved swiftly but silently to stand and go over to the window, followed closely by Daryl, both of them peering out of the window. Lena swore softly when she saw three walkers on the back porch, scratching at the back door, trying to get in.

She glanced up at Daryl, "We need to take care of them before they attract too much attention."

Daryl nodded and bent to grab his crossbow, handing Lena her knife as well.

They made their way slowly down the stairs, wincing with each creak of the stairs. Lena eased the door open slowly, and breathed out a sigh of relief to not get a face full of walker.

They moved slowly out onto the landing, listening for sounds of walkers in the house. Lena glanced over to Daryl, "I don't hear anything" she whispered.

He nodded and motioned her forward, following close behind as they moved through each upper room, clearing them before heading downstairs. Lena cringed as the stairs creaked loudly, and she moved faster, trying to get off of them.

She looked back and saw Daryl moving along the sides of the stairs, hardly making a noise as he descended. She raised a brow, impressed.

They quickly moved through the lower level, relieved to find that none of the walkers had broken in, but that there were now five walkers at the back door, and there were half a dozen in the street in front of the house.

Lena looked to Daryl, "How do we take all of them down?" Daryl looked out the back window at the walkers trying to get in and then hefted his crossbow onto his shoulder. "We come from aroun tha front an take em out from behind. I use my bow, you cover my back. Anythin goes bad, we split an double back."

Lena stared at him for a moment, stunned. "Are you crazy? What about the ones in the street?!" she hissed. He shrugged, "We move quick enough, they won't notice."

Lena stared at him, and then shook her head, "Oookay. Let's get this done."

They moved quickly to the front of the house, unlatching the front door quietly, and sneaking out onto the front porch, keeping low as they pulled the front door shut. Lena followed Daryl around the side of the house, and stopped when he held up a hand.

He lifted his crossbow indicating he would take out the walkers, and she would cover his back. If anything went to shit, they would make a break for it, and double back later. Lena nodded and kept watch, her whole body tense as Daryl took out walker after walker from around the corner.

Finally, his hand came down on her shoulder, "Lets go" he whispered. Lena jumped, startled, and then nodded, following him back around the front of the house, both of them jerking back when they saw two walkers on the front porch.

Daryl took them out quickly and they moved up onto the porch, shutting the door behind them and latching it with relief.

Lena heaved a sigh of relief and sent a shaky smile to Daryl before she quickly rechecked the lower and upper levels of the house, pleased when there weren't any walkers in the house.

Daryl sank down onto the couch, the tension leaving his body. He knew he needed to check on the back door and make sure it was secure, but he really just wanted to sit for a minute. He looked up when he heard Lena come back downstairs and couldn't help a smile when she came over and sat next to him, throwing her legs across his lap.

"Let's breathe a minute, huh?" she suggested softly with a smile. He nodded and leaned back, wondering if they would be able to find a car at one of the other houses like they had planned to look for.

Finally, when he felt all the tension leave his body, he gently moved Lena's legs from his lap and stood, "Gonna go check the back."

Lena nodded and stood with a groan, "Ugh, I'll come too. We should figure out if we can stay here safely, or if we need to move on."

As they inspected the door, Daryl noted that the locks were bent inwards. The only way the door would hold was if they hammered wood planks over the door, and then they would only have one way out if they were in trouble.

He shook his head and turned to Lena, "Naw, we need to find a new place. This one's done."

Lena nodded, "Okay. Let's pack up and scout out the other houses. Maybe we'll get lucky and find a car too!"

Daryl nodded, but wasn't hopeful. The past two years hadn't been anything but dark hell, he had a very hard time trusting that anything would go right. Maybe now that Lena was around there would be a chance for some happiness and light in his life…..maybe.


	11. A New Home

**Hey all! I hope you had a lovely Christmas! Sorry it's taken a bit to get another chapter up, but I've been visiting with family. Now that I'm on a short break, I'll be updating this and my other stories. Please review, and thank you for reading! xoxo**

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Daryl and Lena moved quickly through the house, gathering their belongings into their backpacks and spreading the food equally between them. Lena peered out the front window, frowning at the three walkers that were shuffling slowly up the street from them.

Daryl touched her shoulder softly, "Ya ready?" he asked quietly. Lena nodded and smiled brightly at him before unlatching the front door and pulling it open quietly. They moved out onto the porch, keeping low and quiet.

They had already checked the three houses in the circle of the cul de sac, and had decided to move up the road to the other six; figuring that their luck with finding a safe place, and possibly a vehicle would be better there.

They ran swiftly up behind the walkers and spiked them in the head with knives, continuing on rapidly towards the first house past the one they had been staying in.

They entered in the opened garage door, unsurprised to see no car. Lena tried the door to the house and found it open. She entered the house quietly, listening for movement inside, but not hearing anything.

Daryl followed her into the house, and placed a hand on her shoulder, holding up a finger _wait_ he indicated. She nodded and stood still as he used the side of his fist to pound on the top of the washer, the sound echoing through the house.

A moment later they heard the telltale sound of a walker's moan, and the shuffling noise of it making its way towards them from somewhere in the house. Lena glanced over to him, "Find it and kill it or go?" she whispered.

Daryl listened for a minute, it only sounded like one… "Let's find it."

Lena nodded and moved from the laundry room into the hallway, peering into the doorway of a living room, not seeing the walker. They moved through the lower rooms and were just going upstairs when the walker appeared at the top of the stairs, moaning and reaching for them.

It slipped on the stairs and came tumbling down, limbs cracking and wrenching to horrible angles. Lena grimaced and turned away, she hated seeing them like this. It was pathetic what the human race had been turned into.

A huge cosmic joke.

Daryl quickly knifed the walker in the head and moved up the stairs to see if there were any more lurking in the rooms above. He cleared the upper rooms and made his way downstairs.

Coming to a halt halfway down the stairs, his heart clenched in his chest. Lena's pack was on the floor, the walker was gone, and the front door was wide open.

_God, it's just like Beth! Oh god!_\- his mind screamed. He hesitated only a moment and then was out the door, only to be brought up short by Lena's amused voice.

"Where's the fire?" She asked with a smile.

He stood still, staring at her dumbly, the shot of adrenaline pumping through him, his heart racing like a wild animal.

Without a second thought he stalked over to Lena, wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and drew her to him, kissing her fiercely. He pulled away only after they were both gasping for air, "Don't ya dare scare me like that again" he whispered before turning away and heading back into the house.

Lena stood, catching her breath, staring after Daryl. She had no idea what had precipitated his kiss, she had only dropped her pack so she would be able to move the walker's body more easily out the front door, and then a few minutes later, Daryl was staring at her like she was a precious item he had nearly lost.

She shook her head, even now in the end of the world, she wouldn't understand men. Turning back into the house, she pulled the door shut behind her and locked it. She found Daryl in the kitchen, riffling through the near empty pantry.

He spared her a quick glance, "Aint much here. We should look in tha other houses."

Lena nodded, "Ok, let's go then."

They left the house and moved up to the next house, trying the door to the garage, but finding it locked. Lena went to the front door of the house and found it too was locked. Frustrated she pulled her backpack off and set it down before kneeling down to jimmy the door open with her knife and a bobby pin.

After a few moments she grinned with triumph as the door popped open. She grabbed her backpack and stood, groaning as her knees protested. They entered the house quickly, and were surprised to find it empty of both walkers and any sign that people had lived there.

There was no food in the panty, no clothes in the closet, and all the pictures were gone from the walls.

Lena shared a baffled glance with Daryl, "I guess they took it all with them? Or maybe they moved?" Daryl shrugged, he could care less, they had more houses to check. They checked the garage quickly, and it too was empty.

Lena glanced over to Daryl as they made their way out of the house, "What if we split up? Check out these houses faster?" Daryl shook his head, he didn't like it. "Nah, it aint safe apart."

Lena sighed softly, "Ok."

They moved across the street to another house, and when Lena peered into the garage, she turned to Daryl with a grin, "There's a car!" He nodded sharply and moved to open the garage door, pounding on it harshly before he did.

They both pulled back slightly upon hearing the moaning from within. Lena grimaced, it sounded like more than one. She pulled her knife out and glanced over to Daryl who had his out as well. They pushed the door open to the garage and came face to face with three walkers.

The walkers pushed them back, until they were able to regain their stance and take them down, one at a time, working well together.

They pushed into the garage, closing the door behind them. Lena and Daryl stared at the cherry red Dodge Charger, covered in a fine sheen of dust. Lena let out a whistle, "Wooh buddy! That is a beautiful car."

Daryl nodded; he wondered if the car would start. He had worked on enough junkers of his brothers to be able to mess with it if need be, but if there was anything seriously wrong, they might have issues. He walked over to the car and peered into it, not seeing any keys or any lights indicating an alarm would go off if he tried to open the door.

Grasping the handle, he pulled the driver's side door open and sighed in relief when no alarm went off. He searched for a moment and then used the lever to pop the hood. Leaning onto the car he stared down into the guts of it and assessed.

The battery was still there, and didn't have any corrosion or rust, so that was a good sign. If there was gas in the tank, they should be able to get it to turn over. He looked up to Lena, "We need ta find tha keys, see if it'll start."

Lena nodded and turned to go into the house when Daryl's voice stopped her, "Hey, be careful" he called. She smiled at him over her shoulder and gripped her knife tighter before entering the house, moving quietly through the lower and upper levels satisfying herself that there were no walkers.

"Keys…keys…where would the keys be?"she muttered to herself. She searched through the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers until she let out an exclamation of excitement, holding up the keys.

She ran out to the garage and held up the keys to Daryl with a grin. "Let's wake this baby up!" Daryl gave her a small quirk of the lips and nodded.

Lena slid behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition, turning it, hope sparking in her chest as the engine rumbled to life. Lena grinned and clapped, "We did it!" she called. Daryl shook the hair out of his eyes and gave her a small smile as he slammed the hood shut.

Lena glanced at the gas gauge and grinned when she saw it was almost full. These people must have locked up the house and died before they ever got a chance to escape.

Daryl leaned down and grinned at Lena, "Come on, let's stow our stuff in tha back an get outta here. Go find us a real nice place ta stay."

Lena grinned back, "Only if I get to drive!" Daryl gave a low laugh and nodded, moving to the other side of the car, sighing as the smooth leather seats enveloped him.

Lena hit the button for the large garage door and waited for it to open. She frowned, -_shit, no electricity!-_she thought. Hopping out of the car she grabbed the handle and wrenched the door upwards until it was open far enough for her to back out.

She saw a few walkers further up the street lurch towards the sound and ran back quickly to the car, slamming the door shut and sliding the vehicle into reverse.

As they tore out of the garage and up the street Daryl peered out of the window at the houses and walkers whizzing by. Lena hooked a left out of the development and drove down the small two lane road, passing house after house.

Lena drove for twenty minutes until they came upon a large gated community, the heavy metal gate hanging open. Lena drove in a short ways and peered up at the huge houses and then grinned over at Daryl, "Well, they're certainly real nice…what do you think?"

He nodded and waved a hand, "Let's go."

Grinning, Lena drove further into the development until they came to a huge three story sandstone mansion. Lena grinned over at Daryl, "Welcome home sweetie."

Daryl snorted out a laugh, "Alright darlin, let's go check out our digs." Laughing, they got out of the car and grabbed their bags and weapons, preparing themselves to clear out the house.

Before entering the house Lena glanced over to Daryl, "Ok, let's get inside and make a loud noise and draw any walkers out right away, yea?" He nodded and hefted his prepped crossbow, ready for anything.

They entered the huge house, the creak of the door echoing through the emptiness, until Lena shut it with a slam and then pounded on the door and shouted, "Oye! Come on you brainless mugs!"

Daryl smirked and waited by her side, as the sound of her voice echoed through the house, and a moment later they heard the sound of walkers stumbling and moaning their way towards them.

Three walkers emerged from around the corner and into the enormous entryway, shuffling towards them in the remnants of their once fancy clothing.

Daryl fired, taking down one, quickly reloading while Lena darted forward to knife the second in the head. He fired, taking down the last walker, leaving them both standing, weapons at the ready, alert for more noises.

Lena twitched towards the other end of foyer, hearing a soft shuffling noise, and an even softer groaning noise. She raised her knife and moved closer, until the walker came around the corner and she recoiled in horror.

It was a child, a boy about 10. Lena turned away, her ragged, pained expression tearing at Daryl when he saw her face clearly. He raised his crossbow and fired, his eyes never leaving her face.

His heart wrenched when her body flinched at the sound of the boy dropping to the ground, and her eyes filled with tears. He slung his bow over his shoulder and went to her, wrapping his arms around her, one around her waist, the other around her shoulders, holding her close.

He could feel her tremble with emotion and hear her occasional sob. She finally pulled away, "He-he just reminded me of my brother. I'm sorry."

Daryl shook his head, "It's ok. There was a girl in our group that went missing, an I tried ta find her…She was dead tha whole time."

Lena sighed sadly, her breath hitching, "I'm sorry Daryl. This world is cruel and unfair. It breaks my heart."

Daryl stroked her cheek softly and then sighed, "Come on, time ta make this place secure." Lena nodded and gave him a soft smile.

They spent the next hour scouring the house for any food, clothes and supplies they could use, and then barricaded the front door with a large couch. The back patio door they locked and placed a chair in front of, and sealed the sunroom it led into off with a steel handled shovel from the garage.

Lena stood in the enormous walk in closet and stared at the fancy clothes still hanging there. She laughed softly, with the food they had found in the pantry, and the storage cellar, they would be able to stay here indefinitely.

She walked over to the dresser and pulled the top drawer open, grinning when she saw the silk and lace inside. Perhaps it was time to give Daryl a treat. She laughed, delighted.


	12. A Special Treat

**Hey loves! I hope you are all enjoying the bitter cold and snow! If you live in the US I should say...anywhere else, i don't know what whether you are having, but I hope it's better than here! BRRRRR! Anyway, I hope yall enjoy the chapter, please review! xoxo**

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Lena locked the walk in closet and shed her clothes quickly, shivering in the cool air. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out a pack of wet wipes and began to scrub herself down, taking her time to get clean.

Halfway through her legs she frowned, she had barely given it a thought before, but her legs were awfully hairy. Peering around the room, she spied a robe and snatched it up before tying it around her, marveling at the silky feeling against her skin.

Investigating the large closet further she discovered that there was a door leading into a bathroom, which appeared to still have toiletries. Lena grinned when she found a razor, but grew frustrated when there was no shaving cream to be found.

Grabbing up the bottle of conditioner from beneath the sink she held it up to the setting sun, "Well, this will have to do!" she muttered.

Setting it on the side of the tub, she ran back out to her pack and grabbed a bottle of water before heading back to the tub. Lena wet her legs a little first and then rubbed conditioner on them, and then began to shave.

Fifteen minutes later she had clean shaven legs, and a freshly trimmed bikini line. "First time in two years for that one, but hey who's counting?" she giggled to herself.

Wiping her legs down, Lena searched the cabinets until she found an expensive sounding French lotion and spread it all over her body, sighing at the luxurious feeling. "Sweet god that's good" she whispered.

Wrapping the robe around herself, Lena went back to the dresser to pick out something for that evening. She held up various items and discarded them, wrinkling her nose at how much they revealed.

She wanted something….alluring. Finally, at the back of the drawer she found a set that still had the tags on. Holding it up, Lena grinned. The set was wine colored, and just sheer enough to be alluring. The top was a babydoll top, hugging under the breasts and then flowing loosely. The bottoms were cheekies, with a slight ruffle across the lines.

Using her knife to remove the tags, Lena then pulled the set on and stood in front of the full length mirror, staring at her reflection. She frowned; her hair was still up in her customary bun. Reaching up, she tugged it loose and smiled when it fell around her shoulders in loose curls.

_Better-_she thought. She looked out the window, it was almost completely dark, by now Daryl should be ready for some dinner. They hadn't eaten much during the time the herd came through, so they were both hungry.

Grabbing the knee length robe she tied it tightly around her and inspected herself; he wouldn't be able to see what she was wearing, that was good. She slid her feet into a pair of soft slippers and opened the door of the closet.

Heading into the bedroom Lena looked around and didn't find Daryl. She held her knife in hand, despite knowing that they had cleared the house. Anything could happen. Moving quickly down the stairs, she found him in the kitchen, already working on dinner.

Surprised, she leaned against the enormous island and watched him cook, a smile tugging at her lips. "You jus gonna stand there or ya gonna help?" he asked over his shoulder, his face serious for a moment before a smile played at his lips.

Lena smiled, "Of course darlin. What do you need help with?" Daryl jerked his head to the right, "Grab some bowls, tha foods almost ready."

Nodding, Lena reached up into the cupboard, standing on her tiptoes and grabbed two bowls. She turned to find Daryl's eyes locked on her ass. Grinning she snapped her fingers to get his attention, "Hey! Don't let the food burn."

His eyes flashed up to her face for a moment before a blush spread across his cheeks and he nodded, turning back to the food. "What are we having?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Daryl shrugged, "Aint much. Jus some squirrel stew." Lena sniffed and felt her stomach rumble, "Well it smells amazing."

Taking a chance, she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, standing on her tiptoes to brush a kiss against his neck, "Thank you for cooking."

Daryl stiffened for a moment and then relaxed, "Aint much…..Yer welcome."He inhaled softly and smelled a sweet honeysuckle scent that had to be coming from her skin, and it made him want to turn around and see if her skin tasted like it smelled.

She continued to hold onto him, humming softly while he stirred the stew. Daryl could feel the soft contours of her body pressed up against his, and it was driving him mad with desire. Pulling away, he spoke softly, "Foods ready."

Lena smiled at his back and grabbed the bowls, holding them out for him to fill. Daryl scooped large ladlefuls of stew into their bowls and then plunked spoons into each. Lena grabbed his hand and grinned, "Come on, let's go eat in the entertainment room."

Daryl allowed her to tug him along to the huge entertainment room where there was a large luxurious couch, recliners and an enormous screen on the wall where they must have once watched tv. Lena grabbed a blanket off of the couch and sank down onto the couch, wrapping it around her.

"Not goin ta share that, huh?" Daryl teased, sitting beside her, indicating the blanket. Lena grinned and unwrapped herself slightly, "Come here" she said holding the blanket open for him to slide into.

Daryl shook his head, "Nah, you come here." He leaned back against the couch and swung his leg up behind her so she could move to sit between them and relax against his chest. Lena grinned and scooted back tugging the blanket over them both.

She sighed in contentment when she was leaning into Daryl's chest; the blanket pulled up to her chin, and had taken a large bite of stew. "Mmmm…god this stew is so good Daryl."

"Like I said, aint much, but it will fill ya up." He replied, his deep voice rumbling against her back. Lena looked around the room as they ate, "So, how often do you think they used this room?" she asked.

Daryl shrugged, "I dunno. Never saw nuthin this fancy before." Lena giggled and looked up at him, "Could you imagine watching a movie and a sex scene coming on?" she laughed harder, "Those would be some huge tits!"

Lena laughed for a moment, glancing up at Daryl noticing he wasn't saying or doing anything. Her laughter died. He glanced down at her and then back up at the screen, "Could ya imagine watchin a porno on there?" He shuddered and then grinned timidly at her, waiting for her reaction.

Lena stared at him for a moment and then laughed, "Oh god! That's even worse!" She leaned into his chest and laughed, letting the good feeling of the moment take hold as she felt his own chest vibrate with laughter.

The blanket slipped down around Lena's waist and Daryl saw that the top of her robe had gaped a bit, revealing a deep V of cleavage. His laughter died as his hand on her waist involuntarily tightened, drawing her tighter against him.

Lena realized that the robe was gaping, and pulled it tighter, glancing up at Daryl, seeing the hunger in his eyes. "I have a surprise for you under here. Why don't we go upstairs and I'll let you see it?" she whispered.

Daryl nodded, and grabbed the empty stew bowl out of her hand as she stood. She led him out of the entertainment room and upstairs; Daryl absentmindedly dropping off the bowls on a table.

Daryl watched the sway of Lena's hips as they climbed the stairs and made their way down the hall to the oversize master bedroom. Lena turned and pushed him into the room, shutting the double doors behind them.

She went to where Daryl was standing in front of the bed and stood in front of him, before reaching a hand up to drag his head down for a passionate kiss that left both of the breathless when she finally broke away.

"Why don't you sit down?" Lena suggested.

Daryl nodded and perched on the edge of the bed, his eyes never leaving her. Lena smiled softly and moved to stand between his knees, her hands working on undoing the belt of her robe.

She moved slowly, swiveling her hips, taking her time in undoing the knot. Finally the robe was held in place merely by her own hands. She shrugged one shoulder of it off and loosened her grip, allowing the other shoulder to fall.

Daryl watched her strip off her robe slowly, her body twisting and gyrating like a dancers, and he fought to keep his hands off of her. When she parted her robe and let it fall to her elbows and then finally to the floor, he couldn't think.

Her body looked amazing in the sheer negligee she had chosen. He could see her pert, rosy nipples through the material and gripped the edge of the bed to keep from reaching out.

Lena saw Daryl grip the bed and smirked, knowing how he must want to touch her. First she needed to get his clothes off. Without saying a word she backed up and crooked a finger, smirking again when he leapt to his feet.

She moved in and reached for the hem of his sweater, tugging it up over his head. His fingers flew over the buttons of the button down shirt with torn off sleeves, and it too joined the sweater on the floor. Lena's fingers brushed over his chest and waist, dipping into the top of his jeans to pull at his belt until it was undone.

Daryl pushed her hands aside and shoved his pants down, kicking his boots off with them. He stood naked and half aroused in front of her. Lena put a hand on his chest and pushed him back until his knees hit the bed and he sat again.

Lena straddled him with one swift movement, letting out a soft moan when her already damp and aching core settled against his hardness. Daryl's hands went to her hips and grasped her firmly, his long fingers wrapping around to her full bottom.

Lena grasped Daryl's shoulders and thrust her hips, grinding down against him, building the friction between them. She continued to move her hips, her body showing him how she would move when he was inside her. Daryl's mouth found her neck, nipping and kissing down until he came to her breasts.

He took one in his mouth, nipping at the peaked nipple, wetting the fabric with his tongue, eliciting a low moan from Lena. His hand crept up from her waist to tease the other breast until he switched to using his mouth, making her movements against him more hurried.

He could feel his erection growing harder and wanted to bury himself inside her, but held himself back, allowing her to take her time and take the lead.

Lena could feel the tension inside her growing, and pushed at Daryl until he released her breast, leaving her aching with need. She stood slightly and pulled her top and bottoms off before pushing Daryl back onto the bed further.

Climbing on top of him, she placed a steadying hand on his chest and sank down slowly onto his erection. Daryl watched as a look of ecstasy covered Lena's face, and held still, letting her take what she needed, letting her pleasure give him pleasure.

Lena tightened her legs around Daryl's waist and began to move, slowly, until just the tip of him was inside, and then she sank back down. Slowly, up and down, she tortured them both until they were covered in a light sheen of sweat and her thighs were burning.

Looking down into Daryl's eyes she whispered, "Touch me" and then began to move faster, with long strokes. Daryl reached a shaking hand out and ran his hand up her stomach to her breast to tweak her nipples and leaned up to kiss her, both of them gasping for breath.

Daryl had never felt anything like what was occurring. He had never had a woman go so slow that it drove them both mad with need, set their bodies on fire, and still left them needing more. Now Lena was riding him harder, moaning, and groaning his name.

He cursed and breathed out her name at the same time. Running his hand down from her breasts he used his thumb to find her clit and swirled against it, pressing down, and was rewarded with her crying out his name and thrusting down hard.

He repeated the motion over and over again, thrusting his hips up as Lena cried out and thrust against him, her body quivering with a release. He was getting close to his own release, but he could tell she still wasn't done.

He sat up and bent his knees, drawing her deeper against him, thrusting up as he pulled her down, making Lena whimper his name. He continued to thrust up into her at this new angle, and resumed using his thumb on her clit.

"Come on Lena, come on darlin" he whispered into her ear, his voice low and rough, sending shivers down her spine, as his fingers and hips sent shivers everywhere else. Lena gasped and bucked against him hard, her orgasm crashing down on her hard.

Daryl felt her body twitching around him and with another few thrusts; he came, crying out her name.

Lena collapsed into Daryl's arms as they fell back onto the bed. He rolled on top of her and rested on his elbows, staring down at her. Lena smiled tiredly and brushed his hair out of his face, "There now I can see those beautiful eyes" she whispered.

He smiled softly back and leaned in to kiss her. When he pulled away he felt her shiver beneath him. He frowned, "Ya cold?" Lena nodded. He held up a finger, "Wait here."

He jumped up from the bed and pulled his pants on, disappearing for almost ten minutes. Lena crawled under the covers and was debating falling asleep when he reappeared with an armful of wood.

He smirked and knelt in front of the fireplace, "It's a wood burner, so it should be ok. I looked up there earlier an didn't see any nests." Within a few moments he had the fire built and lit and it was soon crackling merrily away.

Daryl shucked his pants and climbed back into bed with Lena, drawing her close. They watched the fire, both growing sleepy. Lena poked him in the chest, "So, was that a good surprise?" Daryl looked down at her through hooded eyes, "If ya have ta ask after that…"

She laughed and nodded, "Okay, that's what I thought." He smiled and brushed a kiss to her temple, "It was real nice. Get some rest, ya tired me out woman."

Lena smiled and snuggled into his chest, already half asleep. Daryl watched the fire and peeked down at Lena, amazed to have found such a kind person in all this hell. Beth had told him that there were still good people in this world, but after Woodbury and the Prison and losing her, he hadn't had much faith left.

It occurred to him as he fell asleep that he didn't know what he would do if he lost Lena. It scared him to realize how much he cared for her. He couldn't pretend anymore.


	13. Blown Away

_**AN: Well helloooo lovely readers! Sorry it's been forever! I just got wrapped up in other stories and got kinda blocked on this one. So now I'm not, and I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading! xoxo **_

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The next morning Daryl was awoken by the rumble of thunder and the soft patter of rain on the roof. He peered over at the fireplace and saw that the fire had died down to embers. Lena was curled into a ball by his side, her head nestled comfortably in the crook of his shoulder, her warm breath tickling his neck.

He watched her sleep for a few minutes and then pulled away, trying not to disturb her. He quietly pulled on his clothes and walked downstairs to search for the map they had found of the surrounding area. He wanted to see just how big this town was, if the population was large they might face a big problem when they made their supply run.

Spreading the map out he looked at the data points provided by the atlas and nodded. It wasn't a huge town, no more than 4500 people. Most of the sick would have been evacuated to Atlanta. The family of the sick would have followed, and those who were bitten and remained wouldn't be too much of a problem after nearly two years.

Flipping to the extended details page he hummed with satisfaction when he saw there was a local police station and a state police barracks ten miles up the road. They would be able to raid both for weapons. He remembered something Rick had told him about the police barracks in his home town and grinned, they might even be able to take showers.

Once they hit the barracks, they would make a supply run to the mall like Lena wanted. Then they could hole up here for however long they wanted. They could fortify the gate, clean out the other houses, find other survivors, make a community.

Realizing he was making plans for the future, he sighed and closed his eyes. This was dangerous. Not just his feelings for Lena, but the hope that she was giving him.

No place had ever been safe before, nothing had ever lasted before. Why would this?

He jumped when Lena's arms wrapped around his waist and her head rested against his back, "Hey, whatcha doin?" she asked softly.

He stiffened and pulled away, taking a few steps away, putting distance between them. He saw Lena's face fall and hurt spasm across her face before she stepped forward to look at the map. "Hmm, great, two police stations. When are we going?" she asked briskly.

"Now if yer ready" he mumbled.

Lena nodded, "Let me finish getting dressed." She turned and went back upstairs, leaving Daryl standing in the kitchen, feeling shittier than before.

Sighing, he pulled his jacket on and tossed his pack on, grabbed his crossbow and went to wait in the foyer for Lena. A few minutes later she came downstairs, her long trenchcoat buttoned up, a baseball cap on her head and a set of sunglasses on her face, despite the fact that there was no sun out.

"Ya look like a bad spy" Daryl attempted to joke, giving her a smile.

Lena stared at him and shook her head, brushing past and out the door, "I have a headache."

Daryl sighed, damn him and his idiot emotions.

There were two walkers by the car which Lena quickly and aggressively took out before turning to Daryl, "Keys."

He stared at her, "Thought ya had a headache."

"You're not helping. Keys."

He sighed and tossed her the keys, sliding into the passenger seat, setting his crossbow into his lap.

Lena revved the engine and tore out of the gated community, roaring down the highway. She knew Daryl had issues with them being together. She knew he had lost people and it made things hard for him to express his emotions. But goddamn it he did not get to treat her like shit!

She took the exit for the state police barracks hard, careening, tossing Daryl into the side of the car, his head cracking against the glass, grunting.

Lena threw the car into park and shut it off. She turned to him, and glared. "Don't you dare get out of this car. I'm going to tell you something. I get that you lost your group. They were your family, and they died. You were split up from your friend Beth. You've seen horrible things, done worse. Well so have I! That doesn't mean you get to treat me like shit because you get nervous about how us connecting makes you feel. You have to fucking try and talk to me. Christ."

Daryl stared at her and then nodded, his fingers playing nervously with his crossbow, "I know. I'm sorry. I aint good with shit like that. I told ya that before. But I'll try."

Lena sighed and shook her head. "Alright. Well let's go see what we can find in here." She grabbed the keys out of the ignition and tossed the door open, her knife in her hand. They ran to the door and found it locked and chained shut. Lena sighed, "How do we get in now?"

Daryl waved, "Come on let's look around." Lena nodded and followed him as they circled the building looking for another entrance. The only other one was similarly locked and chained.

Lena groaned, "Fuck! Okay, well what if we go back to the house and get a pair of bolt cutters?"

Daryl stared at the building and took a few steps back, staring at the roof. He shook his head, "I don't think we need to. Come here." He pointed to the roof, "See that up there? That's a door, which means if we can get up there, we can break in."

Lena grinned, "Awesome! Now how do we get up there?"

Daryl pointed to the dumpster, "It's about five feet short. I'll climb up first, then pull you up after. Got it?"

Lena nodded and followed him over to it. Had she been by herself, she wasn't sure she would have tried this. She watched as Daryl slung his crossbow over his back and hauled himself over the roof ledge and then leaned down to offer her his hands. She jumped and grabbed on, bracing her feet against the side of the building.

She climbed, letting Daryl pull her, and when she grabbed the side of the roof, pulled herself the rest of the way up. Despite the chilly air and the damp from the rain, she was sweating.

Daryl waved, "Come on, we gotta get movin." She nodded and followed him to the door where they listened but heard no walkers on the other side. He tested the handle and found it unlocked, opening the door slowly. Sniffing the air, he shook his head, "Doesn't smell like there's any of em in here."

Lena nodded and followed him down the stairs, her knife in her hand, Daryl with his crossbow at the ready. They moved through the police barracks quickly but efficiently, and were surprised to find it empty, no walkers, no bodies.

Lena looked at Daryl surprised, "I can't believe this."

Daryl nodded, "They musta been out tryin to help people. Got taken out in the mess. Never had a chance to come back here, except to lock the doors."

They walked back to the weapons lockup and found it relatively full. They quickly filled their bags with guns, ammo, knives, and anything else they could. Lena looked around and sighed, "Well we should get going, huh?"

Daryl grinned, "Come on, I gotta surprise for ya."

Lena gave him a confused look but followed him to the locker rooms and through to the showers. When he turned them on and water came out, she dropped her bag and stepped forward, her jaw slack.

"Oh...my...god"

She turned to him, grinning and lept at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him. "Thank", kiss, "you", kiss, "so", kiss, "much", kiss.

Daryl blushed and shook his head, "It aint much, but you're welcome."

Lena backed away and began to strip off her clothes, tossing them on the benches, "Daryl, I've been bathing in streams for months, and using wet wipes. For two years. This is...I want to cry."

She paused and ran over to the lockers and rummaged through them until she found shampoo and soap, shouting in triumph. Running back over she set them on the cement wall separating the showers and turned hers on. Stripping off her underwear and bra she tugged her hair out of its bun and stepped under the stream of water yelping at the cold water.

She looked over at Daryl who was slowly undressing, still watching her. She grinned, "Don't get distracted. You need a shower too sir."

He gave her a shake of his head and a half smile before walking into his shower, shuddering at the cold water. Despite the cold water, Lena felt happier than she had in a very long time. She scrubbed her hair and her body, humming as her body got clean. When she was done she shut the water off and wrung her hair out, walking to the lockers to search for a towel.

Finding one she sniffed it and shrugged, it was better than nothing. She quickly toweled off and tossed it to Daryl who had finished his shower as well. She quickly redressed, grimacing at her dirty, slightly smelly clothes.

"Can we go get some new stuff now please?" she asked, waving a hand at her clothes.

Daryl sighed, "What about the clothes at the house?"

Lena laughed, "The lady that lived there really liked silk. That shit is not warm, or durable."

Daryl rolled his eyes, "Fine."

Lena grabbed her pack and headed up to the roof, lowering herself down to the dumpster carefully, and then jumping down to the ground. Daryl tossed down the two bags full of guns and weapons, and then jumped down. They loaded up the car and Lena drove at a more sedate pace to the mall. '

As they approached from the highway she slowed. The parking lot was sparsely populated with cars, which gave her a nervous pit in her stomach. Sharing a look with Daryl, she turned into the mall and looked at the numerous doors broken open, the walkers milling around.

"This looks bad" she muttered.

"I told ya that before" Daryl muttered back.

Shooting him a dirty look she drove around until she came to a loading bay that was wide open, and there were no walkers in sight. Looking at Daryl she slowed down, "This could be our best shot."

He sighed, "Fuck. Fine."

Lena pulled up the loading bay and parked the car, locking the door, and tucked the keys into her bra. Daryl's brows rose, and Lena sighed, "In case we run into anyone else, it's the least likely place they'll look."

They had each grabbed two guns in addition to their normal weapons, and proceeded into the mall, not speaking, making as little noise as possible. They peered through the doors at the end of the hallway and saw three walkers in the main area, but no others after that. Lena took a deep breath and nodded at Daryl.

Pushing the doors open they ran quietly up the walkers, knifing and firing arrows into their skulls. They crouched to the ground, peering around until they were sure that there were no more in the area.

Lena saw a directory and scuttled over, looking it over. She pointed, whispering, "There's a sporting goods store down that hallway, why don't we go there. There's a women's clothing store beside it."

Daryl nodded and they took off, running as lightly and quietly as possible. Before they hit the entrance of the sporting goods store Lena held up a hand, bringing them to halt. She had heard noises from inside, and when she peered around the corner, she let out a tiny breath, seeing at least four walkers.

She turned to Daryl and mouthed, "Four- maybe more." He nodded and leaned into her, whispering in her ear, "We get in an take em down, quiet. I take em out from here, an see if anymore show. Got it?"

Lena nodded and leaned back, letting Daryl move slowly around her and step into the doorway, taking aim at one, dropping it. He quickly stepped back, plastering himself against her. His breathing was slow and steady in her ear and after a moment he stepped back into the door and took aim, dropping another walker.

He repeated this twice more, and finally when he stepped back into the doorway, he turned to Lena, "I don't see anymore. Come on."

Lena nodded and followed him into the store, her gaze sweeping the store for movement high and low. They stuck together, grabbing cold weather clothing, sweaters, jackets, boots, and more arrows for Daryl. When they were done removing tags and security devices, they walked over to the women's store, taking out the few walkers inside.

Lena grabbed tank tops, tshirts, jeans, and new bras; showing the bags to Daryl she grinned, "What a discount!"

He shook his head, "Ya little thief."

Lena smiled, "I don't think those rules apply anymore."

They walked quietly to the loading bay, taking down two more walkers and loaded their supplies into the car before Lena asked, "Should we try to find a Walmart or a Costco? We might be able to stock up on food."

Daryl looked up at the sky, the rain was coming down harder and he didn't like the color of the sky, or the sound the wind was making. He shook his head, "I dunno, this storm doesn't look too good."

Lena looked up and frowned, she hadn't even noticed. Still, they didn't have a ton of food left. "It doesn't look great out, but I think we should go, we don't have that much food."

Daryl sighed, "Fine, let's be quick."

Lena nodded and took off, driving through town till she found a Walmart. They drove around the back and found a loading bay, taking out five walkers before heading inside. Lena grabbed an abandoned cart and Daryl walked behind her, crossbow at the ready.

They piled bottled water, powdered milk and eggs, canned goods that weren't expired, energy bars, jerky, powdered peanut butter, pasta, oatmeal, dehydrated chili and soup mixes, and anything they could find that was still good. Lena walked down the hygiene aisle and grabbed tampons, grinning when Daryl grabbed condoms and tossed them in as well.

She held up the tampons and smiled, "You want me to keep needing these, just remember that. Babies during the apocalypse-very bad."

Daryl nodded, "I know."

She smiled and walked further down the aisle, grabbing a toothbrush and toothpaste, and one for Daryl as well. He rolled his eyes at her but said nothing. When they were done they wheeled the cart out to the car and and Lena loaded everything in while Daryl picked off the walkers that were getting too interested.

They quickly slid into the car and drove away, watching the walkers surround the cart and bat at it, before they disappeared from sight. As they drove the rain pounded down on the windshield and wind howled like a banshee. Lena looked up at the sky, "Is it supposed to be green?" she asked, worried.

He peered up, his gut twisting with fear. He knew what was coming. The last time the sky had looked like this...He shook his head. He wouldn't think about it. "It means there's gonna be a twister. We need ta find somewhere ta hide."

Lena bore down harder on the gas and Daryl gripped the door, "Slow down."

Lena glanced over and then turned her attention back to the road, "I'm just tryin to get us back to the house."

Daryl gritted his teeth, "Slow. Tha. Fuck. DOWN."

Lena looked back over and saw that he was terrified and slowed down. When she looked up at the sky again, she saw the clouds starting to swirl into a funnel shape. "Fuck fuckity fuck fuck" she whispered.

Daryl pointed to a road ahead on the right, "Go."

Lena nodded and slowed, taking the turn and they bounced down a dirt road. When a small brick house came into view she pulled into the carport and shut the car off, grabbing Daryl's arm, "Come on!"

He sat stone still, unable to move.

Lena shook him, "Daryl! We have to get inside!"

Daryl looked at her and then nodded, following her outside into the raging storm, matching the one inside him. They ran to the house, not trying to check if there were walkers inside and burst in, weapons at the ready, and came face to face with two walkers.

Lena quickly took them down and slammed the door the shut behind them. The windows of the house vibrated and Lena turned to Daryl, "What do we do?!"

He stared at her blankly until Lena walked up to him and shook him gently, "Daryl! What. DO. WE. DO?!"

Daryl's heart raced and he shook his head, "Uhh, bathtub. Get in tha bathroom." Lena nodded and walked to the back of the house, dropping her bag on the floor, staring at Daryl when he came in with a mattress. He pointed to the tub, "We gotta get in and pull this on top."

Lena laughed, "You're nuts!"

Daryl let out an exasperated noise, "Would ya just do as I tell ya!?"

Lena threw her hands up and got in, waiting for Daryl to climb in behind her. When he sat down and leaned the mattress on the side of the tub she leaned back against his chest and they sat, waiting for the storm.

She could feel his heart beat racing, and his hands at her waist her trembling. She was scared, but he was terrified. Winding her fingers through his, she was surprised when he gripped her hand tightly.

"Why are you so scared of the storm?" she asked quietly, not really expecting an answer.

He was quiet, the sound of the storm raging filled the house. It sounded like a million walking undead, moaning and howling, ripping at the house.

"My dad...he used ta beat me. And ma brother. Merle left...and it got worse." Lena nodded, she had seen his back. She rubbed his arm gently, encouraging him silently to continue.

"Anyway, it was a few years after that. A big storm came rollin through. My daddy was rip roaring drunk. An high. He had beat me sumthin bad, an had passed out in his chair. I heard the air siren for the twister, an ran to the root cellar. When it was over, I came back up, an it was all gone. Half tha town, our house, but most important, him."

Lena turned to look up at Daryl, "You blame yourself?"

Daryl shook his head, "Naw, but I swear, I sat through another twister, an I heard him screaming, askin why I let him die."

Lena raised a brow, "Ghosts don't exist. He was an abuser and he doesn't deserve your guilt. Let him go Daryl."

Daryl sighed and closed his eyes, letting his head fall back against the tub. The window above the tub shattered, the wind howling in. Lena grabbed the mattress and tugged it over them, holding on to it for dear life as the house shuddered.

Daryl grabbed on as well, his heart pounding.

The tornado ripped across the countryside, tearing up houses and cars, throwing them like toys. Walkers were ripped apart and thrown for miles. The wind screamed and Daryl shuddered, hearing his dead father's voice, crying out at him.

Lena shouted over the storm, "He's not there Daryl! Let it go! He's gone!"

Daryl shook his head, trying, but couldn't hear anything but the storm. The roof of the house was ripped off, the winds tearing at them, the mattress being battered and torn. Lena screamed, terrified.

Wind and rain lashed down until the violent updraft ripped the mattress away, leaving them exposed. Daryl grabbed Lena and flipped her under him, grasping her tight.

There was a loud crashing noise and beams from the frame of the house came crashing down, piling around them, blacking out the world. The wind continued to howl and the rain poured down, dripping through the debris.

Lena shifted under Daryl and whispered, "Daryl, are you ok?"

Silence

"Daryl?"

Silence

Something warm and wet dripped onto her chest and she reached down to touch it, rubbing it between her fingers...it was too thick to be water..._blood_

She reached a shaky hand up to Daryl and felt around his face and head until she found a large cut, and then several more. He was hurt, passed out, and they were trapped...

"Shit" she whispered.

The wind howled and screamed with fury, the storm raging as they lay helpless in its grasp.

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_**AN: I was really inspired by Carrie Underwood's song "Blown Away" for this chapter. Give it a listen! **_


	14. Fever

Two hours later the storm died down, leaving the earth scoured and ripped up. Lena sighed and shifted under the increasingly heavy weight of Daryl's unconscious body. She reached around him and pushed at the debris above them, trying to shift it off.

Daryl sank further onto her and she grunted, "Shit, you're heavy" she muttered. Pushing at him she rolled him to the side slightly and sat up several inches, her face right up against the debris. She began to push it away, grunting as the beams shifted.

Light began to filter through the beams and Lena sighed, glad to see it was still daylight. She had felt like they were being sucked into the storm, that it would never be light again. She pushed away more beams, until there was a large hole above her head.

She looked over at Daryl and sighed, smacking his arm softly, "Daryl…Daryl come on, I need you to wake up."

She waited a moment and then hit him harder on the arm, "Daryl! WAKE UP!" she shouted. He grunted and sighed, his eyelids fluttering. Lena leaned forward, touching his face softly, "Daryl, can you hear me?"she asked.

Daryl groaned and coughed, his eyes fluttering open, "Lena?" he whispered.

Lena nodded, "Can you open your eyes more for me? I need you to look at me" she whispered.

Daryl opened his eyes slowly and sought out her face, his vision fuzzy, his head pounding. He reached a hand up to his head and frowned when it came away bloody. "Am I hurt?" he asked weakly.

Lena nodded, "You have a couple big scrapes on your head. But I've pushed a good bit of the debris from around us away. If you can help me move these two big pieces, we can get out. Can you do that?"

Daryl turned to look at it and winced, the movement hurt. He nodded, "If we both kneel, we can push this shit outta the way."

Lena got on her knees beside him, and once he did the same, she grabbed onto the largest piece of roof, "You ready?" she asked, looking over at Daryl.

He nodded his head swimming. Lena counted to three and they pushed, shoving it away from the tub with a crash. Daryl collapsed against the side of the tub, breathing heavily, his vision swimming and his head pounding.

Lena touched his arm softly, "Hey, you ok?" she asked, scared and worried.

Daryl made a soft noise, "Must have a concussion. Gimme a minute."

Lena nodded and sat back, watching him, worried. After a few minutes he sat up, unsteady, but nodded, "Let's go."

They pushed the other large piece of roofing away and Daryl sat back to rest while Lena climbed out of the tub to check on the car. Walking outside she sucked in a breath, the entire plot of trees beside the house was gone, ripped up. Turning to the carport, she winced, the roof had come off, and then been dropped onto the car.

It was un-drivable.

"Shit" she muttered. Now how were they supposed to get the supplies back to the house? _Shit! What if the house had been damaged! SHIT!_

She paced, wondering what to do. They had no idea how many walkers were in the area, and they had no transportation. They were screwed unless they came up with some other way out of here.

She turned and went back into the house. She first needed to get Daryl into a condition where he could move comfortably. Walking into the bathroom, she found him sitting on the bathroom floor, head in hands.

Crouching down, she spoke softly, "Daryl? Can you stand?"

He barely nodded and Lena reached out and took his arm, pulling it around her shoulders, helping him to stand. She walked with him down the hallway to the bedroom and eased him onto the worn bed.

"Okay stay here, I'm going to check the bathroom for anything that might help clean that wound. If not, we have something out in the car I'm sure." She patted his arm softly and went to the bathroom, pulling open the closet door, praying it would still have stuff in it.

As she rummaged through, she found a nearly empty bottle of peroxide, and grabbed a towel. Walking back to the bedroom she sat on the bed next to Daryl, touching his arm softly, "Daryl, can you sit forward?" she asked softly.

He nodded and leaned forward, leaving a spot of blood on the wall behind him. She stared at it for a moment and then moved to sit behind him, gently brushing his hair out of the way to apply the peroxide to his cuts.

Daryl hissed at the burn and his vision swam. Digging his hands into the mattress, he fought to stay conscious. Lena laid a hand on his shoulder, "Almost done, I swear." She dabbed at his head a few seconds more and then patted his shoulder, "Okay, done."

Daryl swayed and leaned back, nearly passing out. Lena struggled from under his weight once again. She prodded his arm, rousing him. "Daryl. I need you to be able to take care of yourself. I have to go find another car. Ours got crushed. Can you fire your crossbow?"

He waved a hand weakly and closed his eyes, grunting softly. Lena sighed and went out to the bathroom, grabbing it off the floor. She placed it on his lap and shook his arm, "Daryl! I have to go find a car, don't pass out. Okay?"

He nodded, but she wasn't sure he actually heard her. She tucked her gun and knife into her waistband and walked out of the house, walking up the road towards another set of houses they had passed.

It was her best bet.

As she walked she saw destruction everywhere and pieces of walkers scattered across the land. Her stomach turned and she walked faster, covering the few miles between the development and the old house in roughly forty minutes.

She walked down the road and saw that nearly all the houses had been torn apart. She sighed, disappointed, until she saw one, virtually untouched. She ran to it and peered into the garage, smiling when she saw a Toyota Camry inside.

She quickly broke into the house and killed the walker inside, rooting around until she found keys for the car. When she tried to start it, her luck ran out. It whined and sputtered, showing her it was running on empty.

"Fuck!" she exclaimed, pounding on the wheel. She climbed out and searched the garage, not finding a gas can anywhere. When she spied a lawn mower, she hesitated and then pulled it over, using hose from her pack to suck the gas out and filter it into the car.

It wasn't much more than a gallon or two, but it was enough to get the car to start. She laughed with excitement and threw the garage door open, speeding down the road to Daryl. She still didn't see any whole walkers on the roads, which was good.

Hopefully the storm had done some serious damage to them.

She pulled up behind the ruined carport and shut the car off, running into the house. She found Daryl passed out and swore, running a hand over his face, "Shit!" she swore again, feeling that he already was feeling feverish.

She shook him and brought him half around and got him to his feet and walked him out to the car, sitting him in the passenger seat before going to work on moving the supplies they had gathered from the ruined car to the new one.

When Lena was done she sat in the driver's seat, tired and aching from lifting and carrying Daryl and the supplies and from walking three miles. She smirked; she should be in better shape. She needed more protein.

Starting the car, she pulled away from the ruined house and drove back to the gated community, breathing a sigh of relief when she found it still standing. The house had a number of tiles from the roof peeled off, and the houses around it were in similar condition, but it wasn't bad.

It seemed as though the storm had bypassed them.

She pulled the car into the large garage and shut it tight. Rousing Daryl, she pushed and prodded, half carrying him into the house, dropping him in the living room before going back out for the supplies.

Half an hour later she had locked the house up tight and had restocked the kitchen and their weapons supplies, and was boiling water for cleaning Daryl's wounds in the living room fireplace when he groaned and half opened his eyes to look at her.

"W-where are we?" he whispered.

"Back at the house. In the gated community." Lena waved a hand, pointing to the huge house around them.

Daryl's eyes darted around before settling on her, "What happened?"

Lena sat on the ground near him, staring. "You really don't remember?" she asked softly.

He shook his head and groaned, reaching up to touch it. His hand came away sticky with blood. He held it out, "Did we get attacked?"

Lena frowned, "No. There was a tornado while we were on a supply run. We got caught in it. You have a head injury."

Daryl sighed, "Makes sense, I guess."

Lena pulled a rag from the boiled water and wrung it out, ignoring how it scalded her hands. Rising up on her knees she pointed to his head, "I'm going to wash your head; this isn't going to be fun. I already took your weapons away, but please try not to hit or choke me, okay?"

Daryl stared at her, "I wouldn't do that."

Lena smirked, "Don't say that yet, this is gonna hurt." Leaning over him she began to wash out his wounds, hushing him and whispering words of comfort as he groaned and cried out, his hands clenching on the couch.

When his hair was wet from her rinsing out the wounds she rocked back on her heels, "Can you move?" she asked softly. Daryl nodded and Lena grabbed his arm, helping him to sit up slowly, and then move across the room to sit in a chair from the dining room table.

She crouched in front of him. "I want to wash your head, really get it clean, but it's going to hurt a lot worse. Can you handle that?" she asked softly.

Daryl nodded, "Get me something to bite on" he whispered hoarsely. She pulled her belt off and handed it to him before running upstairs to get a bar of soap. She took the pot of water from the fire and set it on the hot plate on the table beside her.

Dipping a cup into it she poured the water slowly over Daryl's head, biting her lip as he shuddered and groaned. Quickly she took the soap and rubbed it between her hands, lathering it and working it into his hair, wincing at his moans of pain.

She rubbed his head gently, working the soap through his hair and over his wounds as softly as possible. When Daryl's body relaxed suddenly, she knew he must have passed out. She felt horrible, knowing she was causing him so much pain.

Taking another cup full of warm water, she began to rinse his hair until it was clean of soap. She inspected his wounds and realized that at least one of them would need stitches. She wasn't great at them, but it would be better to do it while he was out.

Running to their stash of medical supplies, she grabbed a needle and thread and dipped them in the scalding water before running them through the peroxide. She took a steadying breath and began stitching.

When she was almost done Daryl roused and began swearing. She stopped and grabbed his shoulders, "Hey! I need you to hold still. I'm almost done stitching. Can you do that?" she asked firmly.

"Yea…just…just hurry" he panted.

Lena nodded and moved quicker, finishing her stitches. Daryl groaned softly and sat shuddering in the chair. "Ye, ye got any booze around here?" he asked hoarsely.

Lena nodded, "Yea, I think there's some around here. Hold on."

She ran to the pantry and found a bottle of rum, unscrewing it as she ran back. Handing it to Daryl she watched as he took a deep swallow and shuddered again. He handed it to her and smiled grimly, "Ye did good."

Lena took his arm and lifted gently, "Come on, you need rest." Looping his arm around her shoulder, she helped him up the stairs the large bedroom they had slept in the night before.

Setting him down on the bed, she helped him tug his boots off and peeled his bloody, wet jacket off, tossing it aside.

Daryl laid down, his head pounding, and his vision wavering. Lena bent over, smiling softly, "How many of me do you see?" she asked.

"Two…but that means I get a threesome, right?" Daryl asked with an exhausted grin.

Lena smiled, "Well if you're up for it tomorrow and the other me is still there, you can give it a shot."

She put her hand to his brow and sighed, he didn't feel any hotter. Daryl sighed; it felt so good to have someone take care of him. When Lena kicked off her boots and laid down beside him, her head on his shoulder, he smiled sleepily and rested his hand on her shoulder, "G'night Lena…thank you for saving our asses…you're amazin" he murmured before slipping off to sleep.

Lena smiled and brushed a damp strand of hair out of his face, hoping his fever would be broken in the morning. She wouldn't be so amazing if his wounds got infected and he died. She couldn't take that.

She couldn't be alone again.

* * *

Lena was awoken in the middle of the night by Daryl thrashing and moaning. She rolled out of the perimeter of his flailing body and called his name softly. When he didn't respond she leaned over and touched his head gently, wincing when she felt how hot he was.

She stared down at Daryl as he moved restlessly, the fever burning him up. They had very little medicine, and almost no antibiotics. She sighed and ran a hand over her face, tugging her hair out of its braid, running her fingers through it.

The Walmart had a pharmacy; she might be able to stock up…if she could get in and out safely. Running downstairs she went through their supplies and came up with an old bottle of penicillin she had been carrying. It was nearly two years out of date.

Sighing, she grabbed it and a bottle of water and ran upstairs. She smoothed Daryl's hair back and spoke softly, "Daryl I need you to wake up…can you sit up for me?"

He moaned and shivered, trying to open his eyes. Lena pulled him up and supported his head, "Come on Daryl open your mouth, you need to take this medicine."

When his mouth opened, just barely, she pushed four pills in, doubling the dose, hoping that it would help with the expiration. She poured water into his mouth and whispered, "Come on Daryl, swallow."

He struggled for a moment and then swallowed, breathing heavily after. Lena patted his arm, "Okay, good job. Now drink some more water, okay?"

She rubbed his cheek softly, "Come on, open your mouth." Daryl opened his mouth and Lena poured more water in, wiping his face when he had swallowed.

Laying him back down she wiped his brow and whispered, "Daryl, I have to go get you more medicine. I'm leaving the water and the antibiotics here. Try to sleep. Okay?"

Daryl grabbed her hand weakly and whispered, "Be…safe….don't…get….hurt…"

Lena nodded, smiling, "I'll be careful. I promise." She leaned down and kissed his forehead softly, "Rest."

She went to the closet and pulled on a new pair of jeans, a tank top, and a sweater before lacing up her new boots. She did a quick braid and pulled a baseball cap low over her eyes before grabbing her pack and running downstairs and out to the car.

As she drove down the road, the moonlight spilling over the road, she marveled at the quiet empty landscape. She had always felt like the city was smothering her, like she needed an escape…_guess all I needed was for the world to end _-she thought wryly.

When she pulled up at the Walmart she sighed unhappily; the building had taken major damage from the storm. Half the roof had caved in, and the other half of the building looked dangerous to enter.

She didn't see any walkers around, but still took her gun and knife, her gaze swiveling all around. Pushing aside debris she walked through the loading bay and through the doors out into the main building.

Walking quietly through the aisles, she heard a soft moaning, when she turned towards the pharmacy she ducked down, seeing two walkers milling around. Peering around the corner, she scanned the area and sighed when she saw two more walkers further down the store.

They hadn't seen or heard her, but she would have to take out the ones in the pharmacy. Keeping low, she moved across the short distance to the pharmacy and jumped over the counter. The two walkers turned at the light sound and moaned, advancing on her.

She quickly knifed one through the head and ducked away from the other, bobbing back up to knife it as well. She leaned against the wall, catching her breath, and listened for the other walkers. She heard them shuffling about, but they didn't seem to be agitated.

Peering around the corner, she watched them look around and continue their aimless roaming. Sighing in relief she moved away from the wall and began peering at the shelves, looking for medicine.

Unzipping her pack she began to toss bottles of various antibiotics into her bag. She spied gauze and more peroxide and tossed those in as well; glancing around to make sure she had gotten everything they might need.

She grabbed a few bottles of multivitamins, a thermometer, and some bottles of electrolyte drinks before zipping her pack up and slinging it over her shoulder. As she climbed over the counter, her foot knocked a stand of chapsticks over, sending them clattering to the floor.

She winced and froze, staring over at the walkers. They turned and stared at her for a moment before moaning and beginning to advance.

"Shit!" she muttered. Securing her pack she ran through the store, heading for the loading bay. When she burst through the exit she came to a stuttering halt, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Oh fuck me" she whispered.

There were at least twenty walkers roaming around, blocking her path to the car. They turned at her exit and began to moan, stumbling towards her. "Fuck!" she shouted, taking off jogging, dodging two walkers.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw the walkers pursuing her en masse. Glancing back ahead, she looked for a way to lose them and double back. There was a side door that lead back into the building…but she had no idea if it was unlocked.

Sprinting over she tugged on it and said a quick prayer of thanks when it opened. Running inside she ran through the darkened hallway, listening for any movement ahead.

A door loomed ahead and she slowed, peering through the glass; seeing nothing, she pushed it open and ran across the store to the loading bay exit. The two walkers shuffled down the hallway ahead of her, turning at the noise and moving back towards her.

Lena lifted her knife and ran towards them, kicking one in the chest and sending it reeling back into the other. She quickly knifed it in the head and then smashed the other with her knife, pushing it away before continuing running down the hall.

She stood on tiptoe to look out the bay doors and saw only three walkers by the car. She pushed the doors open and sprinted over, taking one down as the other two advanced. She backed towards the car and took down the second walker, waiting until she was right up against the car to unlock it.

She quickly opened the door and slid inside, tossing her bag into the passenger seat before peeling out. She pounded on the steering wheel, her heart pounding.

"Fuck! Holy shit!" she shouted, her adrenaline pounding. She slowed after a few minutes and pulled up beside a trio of parked cars in the parking lot of a strip shopping center. Grabbing her tubing and gas canister, she went to work on getting gas for the car.

Twenty minutes later she had a full tank of gas and was back on the road, her mouth tasting horribly of gas. Pulling into the gated community and back into the garage, she sat in the car for a moment, letting her hands stop trembling before she exited the car.

Locking the garage and the house up behind her, she ran upstairs and checked on Daryl, growing worried when she felt his head and it was still hot. The penicillin wasn't working.

She sat down beside him and rooted through her bag, until she came up with a stronger antibiotic, Moxifloxacine. Shaking Daryl's arm she spoke softly, "Daryl, come on, I need you to sit up, I have more medicine."

He lay still, breathing unsteadily, and Lena bit her lip, worried. She knew he would need his rest, but he needed the medicine more.

Shaking his arm again, she pulled him up into a sitting position. "Daryl, come on, open your eyes for me okay?" she whispered.

Daryl groaned softly and his eyes fluttered for a moment before he sighed and they shut again. "Good, come on, try again." Lena encouraged.

His eyes came half open and he turned his head towards her, his mouth opening. Lena nodded, smiling, "Good, okay take these, and drink some water."

She put the pills in his mouth and poured some water in, waiting for him to swallow before nodding, "Okay, a little more water, come on now." When he opened his mouth again, she poured more water in until he sputtered and coughed.

"Okay, okay, breathe…good" she murmured. Leaning his head forward she rubbed antibiotic cream on his wounds and then lowered him down onto the pillows, sighing when he went straight back to sleep.

Lena ran a hand over her face, exhausted. Removing her boots, she lay down next to Daryl, curling on her side to watch him sleep.

"Don't you dare die on me Daryl" she whispered.

She wiped away tears; she was so tired, and worried and scared. She hadn't had anyone who gave a shit about her in her life in a very long time. She didn't want to lose what little good she had managed to find in this shitty world now.

As she drifted off to sleep Lena held on to Daryl's hand, willing him to recover, to stay with her, not to leave her alone.


	15. Familiar Faces

Lena woke frequently to check on Daryl, taking his temperature, concerned when it held steady, despite the antibiotics. She lay tiredly by his side, watching him sleep, his chest rising and falling, his breath finally steady.

Her hand rested on his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat. The rhythm of it soothed her, her eyes drooping shut slowly. When Daryl moved under her hand, rolling over to face away from her, her eyes popped open for a moment, watching him to make sure he was still asleep.

When she was sure he was still sleeping she sighed and closed her eyes, finally falling into a deep and restful sleep.

* * *

Lena woke slowly the next day, stretching luxuriously until her toes brushed against Daryl's leg. She quickly rolled over and stared at him, amazed that he was still asleep. Reaching a hand out she touched his forehead gently and sighed when it felt cooler than before.

She rose from the bed and went to use the bathroom before coming back to wake Daryl. She brushed the hair back from his face and spoke quietly, "Daryl, I need to take your temperature. Can you open your eyes for me, wake up a little?" she asked softly.

She brushed her fingers across his face, smiling when Daryl's eyes fluttered open slowly. His eyes searched her out in the dim light and then locked eyes with her. Lena held up the thermometer, "Can I take your temp?" she asked softly.

Daryl made a soft noise of assent and opened his lips, letting her put it beneath his tongue. A few moments later it beeped rapidly. Lena removed it and sighed. He still had a fever, but it was lower than before. 100° now, whereas before it had been nearly 103°.

Daryl cleared his throat, "Is it bad?" he asked, his voice low and rough.

Lena sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "It's better than before. Do you feel hungry? Or thirsty?" she asked.

Daryl thought about it for a moment and then nodded, "Definitely thirsty." Lena nodded and stood, walking over to her bag to grab a bottle of water. She helped Daryl sit up and handed him the bottle watching as he drained it.

"Do you want more?" she asked. Daryl nodded and she walked over to the bag to get a bottle of electrolyte drink. Daryl wrinkled his nose at it but didn't complain. He drank it slower than the water, and only drank about half, but seemed to have more color in his face when he set it aside.

Lena brushed his hair back and cupped his cheek, "You sure you don't want food?" she asked softly.

Daryl shook his head, "Nah I'm good. Have you eaten?" he asked.

Lena smiled, "Not yet. I want you to take some more antibiotics before I do. Okay?" she asked.

He nodded and took the pills she offered, swallowing them down with only a small wince. Lena took the electrolyte drink bottle from him and pushed him down against the pillows, "Okay, now relax. Here's a book." She tossed a book she had taken from Walmart onto his lap and grinned when he rolled his eyes at her.

"Hey, you need to relax; you can either sleep or read. There are no other options here. Okay?" she said.

Daryl sighed, "Fine."

Lena smiled and leaned down to kiss his forehead, "I'm just going downstairs to make some breakfast. If you're hungry, I'll make you some. I'll come back up and read to you if you want."

Daryl pretended to ignore her for a moment and then shrugged, nodding. She smiled brightly at him and patted his arm before walking downstairs and into the kitchen. She quickly began to prepare a pan full of powdered eggs, adding in some powdered salsa.

She plated up the huge pile of eggs and added some fresh blackberries that she had found growing at the side of the house, grabbing two forks before heading upstairs. She knew Daryl would probably be hungry when he smelled the food, despite his protestations otherwise.

When she came into the bedroom she found Daryl sitting up, reading the book. Smiling, she set the plate full of food down on the bedside table and sat beside him. "Any good?" she asked, pointing to the book.

He shrugged, "It's ok."

Lena grinned, "Well then why don't you read to me while I eat?" she suggested.

Daryl hesitated and then nodded. As Lena began to eat he opened the book and began to read, his lilting voice soft and pleasant.

A few minutes later he halted and looked over at her, hesitating. Lena smiled and held out the plate, "Why don't you take the rest and I'll read?" she offered.

Daryl frowned, "I don wanna take your food."

Lena smiled, "I had enough, you go ahead." She held the plate out and took the book from his hand. When Daryl nodded and took the plate, she handed him a clean fork. He began to dig in immediately and she smiled, beginning to read.

The story was a good one; a boy named Eragon living in a small town found a mysterious stone that then turned out to be a dragon egg. They were both soon entranced by the story, and when Daryl fell asleep Lena patiently put a bookmark in and set the book aside.

One thing she had found with the end of the world; it was boring.

She sighed and rose from the bed and went down to the kitchen to clean up from making breakfast. When she was done with that she organized their supplies and then began to hand wash their dirty clothes.

An hour later she was hanging the clothes up to dry in the living room when she heard a noise upstairs. Sighing, she set aside Daryl's shirt and walked slowly up the stairs. When she walked into the bedroom she sighed, exasperated, at the sight of Daryl clinging to the back of a chair, his face pale, sweat beading down his temples.

Crossing her arms she stood, frowning at him. "Well, care to explain?" she demanded. Daryl made a face and turned his face away from her. Lena threw her hands up, "Ugh fine!" she muttered.

Stalking over, she wrapped her arm around his waist and slung his other arm over her shoulder. "Come on. Let's get you back to bed" she muttered.

Daryl balked, staying where he was. Lena gritted her teeth and pulled away, looking up, "What? What's wrong?" she asked.

He shrugged his shoulder and looked away from her. "I need ta use the bathroom."

Lena stared at him for a moment and then laughed, resting her head against his chest for a moment. "Oh lordy Daryl. Okay. Come on." She tightened her grip on his waist and helped him walk to the bathroom, feeling how he swayed in her grip, and knew he must have been weaker and more tired than she had previously thought.

She stood outside the bathroom until Daryl was done and then helped him back to the bed, tucking the covers around his waist gently and then brushed his hair back gently. Smiling at him, she shook her head, "Daryl, you're such a pain in the ass" she said fondly.

A ghost of a smile flitted across his lips and he took her hand, "I know. Sorry."

Lena smiled and lay down next to him, resting her head gently on his chest. "It's ok. Just so you know." She picked up the book from the bed and began reading, smiling when Daryl wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her closer.

Awhile later when her voice grew hoarse she set the book aside and leaned up on one arm smiling down at Daryl. "You hungry?" she asked softly.

He shrugged, "A little."

Lena smiled and leaned in to kiss him softly, making a noise of surprise when he tugged her back down against him, his fingers winding through her hair. Daryl kissed her softly, sweetly, then deeper, hotly, until they were both breathless.

When they finally broke apart, Lena laughed breathlessly and brushed a kiss against his lips, "That's not what you're supposed to be doing to recover. You're supposed to rest."

Daryl smirked and laughed, "I promise ta rest…jus stay here with me." His voice was soft, cajoling.

Lena grinned, "I thought you were hungry?" she asked, raising a brow.

Daryl ran a hand up her waist, drawing his fingers over her skin, smirking at her. "I am…" he said softly.

Lena rolled her eyes and laughed, "Okay. I'll stay. But you need to rest, got it?" she ordered.

Daryl sighed dramatically, "Fine." He settled deeper into the pillows and smiled when Lena snuggled into his side, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder and neck.

They settled into a comfortable silence for a long time until Lena whispered softly, "Do you think things will ever be normal again? Do you think there's a cure?"

Daryl sighed, "I dunno. I don think things can be normal again. Things changed too much. Our old world…is gone. If there is a cure…we aint goin ta find it."

Lena nodded, "That's kind of what I thought."

Daryl thought for a moment and then asked, "What would ya do if things went back ta normal today?"

Lena sighed and nuzzled his neck, kissing it softly as she thought. After a moment she grinned and ran a hand over his chest, "I would take you to the beach and then to the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, and then…Europe."

A ghost of a smile crossed Daryl's lips and he ran a hand over her hair, "That's a lot of places. I would like ta see ya in a bikini though" he said thoughtfully.

Lena grinned, "You've seen me in far less."

Daryl nodded, "Still…I'd like it."

Nodding, Lena grinned, "Well, maybe we should head south for the winter." She raised a brow at him and waited to see what he would say.

Daryl shook his head, "Too many big towns."

"What about a small beach town like, say in Louisiana? Along the Bayou? Bet we could find some good houses and food there." Lena suggested.

Daryl nodded after a long moment, "That wouldn't be so bad. My daddy always said we had family in Louisiana. Might be nice ta see it."

Lena smiled, "Cool. Once you're better we'll pack up and go. Two or three days tops." She wiggled out of his arms and sat up, "I'm going to go make some food, stay here and rest, got it?" she ordered.

Daryl nodded and sat up on the pillows, watching as she left the room. Ten minutes later he heard a noise from downstairs, one that sounded nothing like the usual kitchen noises Lena had been making.

He sat up and listened harder, swearing he heard someone else….He tossed the covers aside and swung his legs over the side of the bed, rising with only a moment's dizziness. Walking steadily to the doorway he made it to the stairwell and listened, hearing nothing for a long time.

Then, he heard Lena, speaking softly, urgently.

"Who are you? How the hell did you find us?" she demanded.

There was a long moment of silence and then a soft female voice responded, "I just noticed the signs of habitation. The way you barricaded the doors, the cars from the other houses have been used to create blocks by the front gate to funnel walkers, and I saw the smoke from your chimney."

Daryl shifted…did he know the voice? Taking soft steps down the stairs he moved slowly, trying to hear the words the two women spoke, but missed their conversation as he moved quietly towards the kitchen.

When he peered around the corner he saw the back of the woman, her small frame wrapped in a long jacket, her tattered jeans tucked into boots and a long blonde braid hanging down her back. Lena saw him and shifted, her action causing the woman to turn and see what she was looking at.

When Daryl saw the woman's face, his heart lurched.

He took a step forward, reaching out, "B-Beth?" he whispered.

* * *

_**AN: See guys?! I told you Beth might make an appearance! So, the story should be wrapping up soon...ish. lol I know I've been updating super slowly, but I'm working on like three stories right now. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a little fluff before some heavy stuff. Thank you for reading! xoxo **_


	16. No Safe Places

_**AN: Well look who's here?! Beth! Things are going to heat up pretty quickly-but maaaybe not in the way you imagine! Please review! **_

* * *

Lena stared back and forth, between the mysterious woman (Beth?) and Daryl. At Daryl's utterance of her name, she had startled and paled. Now they stood staring at each other, like deer in headlights.

Beth had appeared at the front door, knocking and rattling the handle. When Lena had gone to see if a walker was trying to get in, she had been startled to see a live face staring back at her. She had quickly grabbed her gun and opened the door, leveling it at the woman.

To her credit, the other woman had raised empty hands, shaking her head, "I don't mean you any harm. Can I come in?" she asked softly. Lena had stared at her for a long moment before nodding and lowering the gun, waving her inside.

She had quickly ushered her into the kitchen and begun to question her about who she was, and why she was by herself. They hadn't gotten farther than the woman telling her that she had been separated from her group, captured by a group in Atlanta that made her work for resources that she used, always in debt, never able to leave.

Daryl stepped forward and touched Beth's hand, his face quivering with emotion when their skin connected. Beth smiled, reaching out to wrap him in her arms, crying tears of joy. They spoke no words, but Lena could hear the joyous reunion as clearly as if they had.

Lena sighed and set her gun aside, turning back to making the venison chili she had been preparing. The dried beans and peppers rehydrated quickly and she had managed to find some spices at the stores. Venison added in made for a delicious meal that would last for days.

Lena chopped up the venison keeping her hands busy as she listened to Daryl and Beth talk quietly.

"I can't believe you're alive" Daryl whispered to Beth, his voice low and rough with emotion.

Beth sighed, "I can hardly believe it sometimes. It's been a rough few months since I got out of Atlanta. There are hoards of walkers blocking major areas of roads. I've had to run through woods and evade roaming groups of survivors that were majorly unfriendly. I'm just so glad I found you."

Daryl laughed softly, "You're safe now. You're with us." Lena heard them embrace again and sighed softly, she shouldn't be feeling left out, it was ridiculous. Rinsing her hands off, she rubbed disinfectant on them and then dried them off, turning to smile at the pair.

"Well the chili is going to be ready soon. Can I get you some water and something to snack on until then Beth?" she asked politely.

Beth smiled softly, "That would be great, but I don't want to take your food."

Lena grinned, waving, "Come here." They women walked over to the pantry and Lena showed her their massive stores of food. Beth laughed, covering her mouth, shaking her head.

"Wow, I haven't seen that much food in…years. Wow."

Lena grinned, "So. Pick a snack and relax. And if you want, tomorrow I can take you over to town and you can have a shower." She looked over at Daryl, "You should have one too."

He sighed but nodded, "It's a good idea."

Lena nodded decisively, "Good. Then why don't you guys sit and catch up? I'll check on the laundry."

Beth stared at her, sensing the other woman was feeling left out. "Are you sure?" she asked softly.

Lena smiled softly, "It's no problem. Honestly." She smiled and walked away, heading into the living room to check on the laundry she had hung earlier. The fire that she had lit was burned down, but had kept the room warm, drying the clothes out.

She gathered the clothes and began to fold them, wondering what the addition of Beth into their life would mean. She didn't sense that Beth and Daryl had been involved sexually, but they did seem to have an intense connection.

She tried to tamp down her jealousy, knowing it was unreasonable. Beth and Daryl were friends, nothing more. Sighing, she finished folding the laundry and gathered it, the pile gathered precariously high.

Lena walked slowly, steadily towards the stairs and began climbing them, the pile shifting in her arms. She felt the clothes begin to fall and swore, "Shit!" unable to stop them.

Staring down at the scattered clothes, she sighed and closed her eyes. A moment later she heard Beth's voice, "Oh no! Let me help!"

Lena opened her eyes and found Beth above her on the stairs, running down to gather up the fallen clothes. Lena smiled at Beth gratefully, "Thank you" she said sincerely.

Beth nodded and smiled brightly, "Of course Lena. Thank you for letting me stay here."

Lena followed her up the stairs, "W-what? Of course! I would never turn someone away who needed help." She stared at Beth incredulously.

Beth grinned, "Well there are a lot of people out there who wouldn't do the same. Daryl's told me a lot about you. He can't stop talking about you in fact." Beth raised her brow and smiled.

Lena blushed but laughed, "Really? Daryl? Won't stop talking? That hardly sounds like the man I know" she quipped.

Beth laughed, "Well, for him." Lena laughed, nodding in agreement.

They set the clothes down in Lena and Daryl's bedroom and Lena waved a hand at the house, "So I don't know if Daryl told you, but please pick a room, there are plenty."

Beth nodded, "I'll take one a little further away from you guys, give you some privacy" she said with a grin.

Lena laughed, "Thank you. But please take whichever one you like. We'll be fine no matter what."

A moment later Daryl came out of the bathroom, pausing when he saw the two women laughing and smiling. Shaking his head he came over and sat on the bed, tired despite only having been up and about a short time. "Yall are makin me nervous. Two hens in the house. Mmmmph."

Lena and Beth shared a look before laughing. Lena tossed one of his shirts at him and grinned, "Does that make you the rooster?" she asked.

He smiled softly, "More like the fox." He set the shirt aside and leaned back against the pillows, his eyes drooping half shut.

Beth and Lena shared a look and Beth nodded, backing out of the room, whispering, "I'll go check on the chili."

Lena nodded, mouthing, "Thank you", before turning to check on Daryl. She placed her hand on his forehead, frowning when she felt how warm his head was.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, touching his cheek gently.

Daryl shrugged and winced slightly as one of the cuts on his back tugged. "Not so great" he murmured.

Lena nodded, "Okay, let's get some more antibiotics and painkillers in you and some more hydration. Okay?"

Daryl nodded and closed his eyes, shifting uncomfortably. Lena frowned, "Are you too hot?" she asked. He nodded and Lena helped him sit up, pulling his shirt off and tossing it aside.

After she had helped him lay back, she went to the dresser and shook out more antibiotics and painkillers from their bottles, grabbing a new bottle of sport hydration drink. She quickly made Daryl drink and take the pills before letting him relax.

Within a few minutes he was asleep and Lena had sunk down in the chair beside the bed to watch him. Rubbing a hand over her face, she sighed heavily and closed her eyes.

Lena jerked awake when a hand rested on her shoulder, "Lena? I'm sorry, but you should eat and get some rest." Beth spoke quietly, her voice gentle.

Lena nodded, accepting the bowl of chili that Beth offered. She burned her tongue eating too fast, but damn, it tasted good. When she had finished she took her bowl downstairs and went to lie down on the enormous couch in the entertainment center.

Beth had promised to watch over Daryl while she rested, and in doing so, gave Lena the peace of mind she needed to fall asleep. Beth covered her with a blanket and took a bowl of chili with her upstairs to sit by Daryl as he slept.

She couldn't believe she had found her friend again, that she was back with family, safe and sound. In this world, that was a miracle.

* * *

The next morning Daryl woke, feeling better than he had in the past two days. He quickly dressed and walked downstairs, finding Lena and Beth in the living room by the fire, talking quietly and drinking mugs of tea.

Lena's face light up at seeing him, she reached a hand out in silent supplication for him to join them. He smiled softly and sat down beside Lena, dropping his arm around her shoulder. Beth raised a brow as she sipped her tea, watching the couple.

Lena snuggled into Daryl's side and glanced up, "How are you feeling?" she asked.

He sighed, smiling at her, "Much better. Can we go take showers? I'm feelin dirty."

Lena choked on her tea and covered her mouth, laughing. She and Beth exchanged a look before breaking into peals of laughter. Daryl shook his head, "Yall are terrible" he said with a grin.

Lena nodded, "Sorry. That's fine. We can leave now if you're ready" she offered. Daryl nodded and went to gather his things, tucking in towels from the house, shampoo and soap. A few minutes later they gathered in the foyer of the house and left, barricading the door behind them.

Lena drove them to the police barracks, taking note of the lack of walkers the whole way there.

They quickly climbed the side of the building and went inside to shower, laughing and enjoying the feeling of being fresh and clean. Lena and Beth showered first, and dressed quickly chatting and drying their hair while they waited for Daryl.

Lena plaited her hair into a braid and smiled at Beth, "It's such a good feeling, huh?"

Beth grinned, "I haven't felt this clean in weeks. It's heaven." She wound her hair up into a ponytail and sighed happily.

Daryl emerged a few minutes later and gathered up his things, ushering the women back upstairs to the roof. As the women climbed down, laughing and chattering, Daryl glanced around, his instincts telling him that something was wrong. There was nothing in sight to cause the feeling, but deep down, he knew something wasn't right.

As Daryl climbed down after the women, he heard a noise from below. Dropping down onto the dumpster he turned to see what had caused it. Standing on the dumpster he felt a ripple of panic run through him when he saw the scene before him.

A group of men and women were surrounding Lena and Beth, holding guns to their heads.

Daryl reached for his crossbow but was brought short by a tall Hispanic man aiming a gun at his head with a grin. "Uh ah ah! Put it down" the man commanded.

Daryl gritted his teeth and then nodded sharply, swinging it off his shoulder to toss to the ground. "What do ya want?" he asked sharply.

The man laughed, "Everything." He waved Daryl down off the dumpster and kept his gun leveled at his head. "After that storm we kept close eyes on the stores, knowing that any survivors would need to stock up. Lo and behold, your pretty little friend shows up! We followed you to your _sweet _digs and decided you were perfect."

Daryl frowned deeply, "Perfect for what?" he asked.

The man grinned, "For a little game. You'll be coming with us." He turned and nodded to the group who quickly knocked Lena and Beth over the head, dropping them to the ground and hog tying them.

Daryl took a step forward and gritted his teeth, "Ya didn't have to do that!" he shouted, his fists balled at his sides.

The other man laughed, "Oh but we did! Now, you're going to come with us, or I'll kill them right here, and now." The smile on the man's face was gone in an instant and he fixed his gaze firmly on Daryl.

Daryl stared at Lena and Beth's still forms, watching as they were loaded into the van that had driven up. Finally he turned his gaze back to the tall man and nodded, "Fine." Daryl's gaze narrowed and his voice dropped, going cold, "Know I'm gonna kill you."

The tall man laughed, "I'm sure you'll try." With that he grabbed Daryl's arm and pushed him toward the van, shoving him hard. When Daryl stood in the doorway of the van the man whipped his gun across the back of his head, sending him sprawling into the van with a groan.

The last thing Daryl saw was the unconscious faces of Lena and Beth, then splitting pain bore down on his skull and drove him into darkness.


	17. Games

_**AN: Goodness it has been too long since I update here! I am so sorry! I've been writing three stories and been busy with work, grad school applications...eesh. Anywhoo, I hope you enjoy the update...though it's not really a light hearted update. Quite the opposite really. But, please, review and let me know! thank you for reading! **_

* * *

Lena sat shivering in the dark, wishing she could see what was causing the incessant dripping noise. She had awoken and found herself alone, trapped in a cold dark space that after careful exploration, turned out to be a concrete room.

There was obviously water dripping somewhere that lent to the damp, dank smell that permeated the whole room. She wished Beth or Daryl were with her, but she was painfully alone.

Wrapping her arms around her legs she laid her forehead against her knees and took deep breaths, trying to understand what had happened, past the fact that a strange group had appeared at the police station, attacked and taken them.

She couldn't remember more than that.

* * *

Daryl's head ached so fiercely when he rolled over that his stomach roiled and he rose to his knees, crawling away from the mattress to vomit a few feet away. His limbs shook and his body emptied itself until his head pounded.

When he was through he crawled back to the mattress and collapsed, his body covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

"Lena?" he rasped out, waiting to hear if she responded. The room was black, and he heard no one else breathing. "Beth?"he whispered, his hope dying as no one spoke back.

He thought back to the tall Hispanic man, taunting him, telling him that they would be playing games….and a shudder ran over him.

* * *

Beth's eyes fluttered open, light streaming into her eyes. A tall Hispanic man was standing in front of her, talking softly to a woman with bright purple dreadlocks. When he noticed she was awake he ceased speaking to the other woman and turned towards her, smiling greasily.

"You're awake! I'm so happy. We were worried you had taken too hard a knock to the head. How are you feeling?" he asked solicitously.

Beth frowned deeply and looked around for her friends, "I'd be better if I knew where my friends were."

The man nodded, "They're just fine. Resting. How's your head feel?" he asked.

Beth stared at him for a moment and then shrugged, "Fine. What do you want with us?" she demanded.

He grinned, "Well, I'm glad you asked. We have a very _special_ community here. Those who have survived this plague have very special _needs._ We seek to accommodate those needs. So, do you think you can help?" he asked.

With each word Beth felt a sinking feeling set in. Setting her jaw she tilted her face up and glared at him, "Fuck you" she stated firmly.

The man stared at her for a moment and then smiled, and then laughed loudly. He turned to the woman with the purple dreads, "Clean her and get her ready. We have a request that needs to be fulfilled by noon."

The woman nodded and approached Beth, her hand on her gun, her face hard. "If you make me use force, this will be worse for you."

Beth stared at her and said nothing. The woman untied her and grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the chair, out of the room and down the hall to a room with showers, forcing her to strip and shower.

Beth protested, telling the woman she had just showered that day, but the woman slapped her hard in the face, pointing to the shower, "Go."

Beth glared at her and stripped off her clothes, tossing them on the floor at the woman's feet. She went to the shower and turned on the water, quickly washing herself with the sickly sweet smelling sugar cookie body wash and shampoo.

When she was done the woman tossed her a towel and led her down another hallway to a room filled with racks of clothing tables of makeup.

Beth's heart froze. This was bad. Very bad.

The woman pulled a school uniform off the racks and held it up before tossing it to Beth who caught it with one hand. "Dress" the woman commanded.

Beth swallowed and hurried to do as she was told, pulling on the clothes. Her hands shook as she realized what happened in this place. People were slaves; sex, torture, death…it probably all happened here.

When she was dressed the woman forced her to sit and endure makeup being applied to her face and her hair being styled. When she was done nearly an hour later, Beth looked like a porn version of herself.

She wanted throw up.

The woman handed her a pair of heels and waited while she put them on. When she was done she leaned in and slid a collar over her neck, tightening it slightly until it was loose, but just barely uncomfortable.

Beth touched it warily and looked to the woman, "What's this for?" she asked.

The woman held up a fob and pressed a button. A breath later an electrical shock passed through Beth's system, sending her spasming and writhing to the floor. After only ten seconds it stopped.

The woman stood over her and smirked, "It's a preventative. So don't try anything."

Beth nodded and stood unsteadily, following her down the hallway and out of the building into the mid-afternoon light. The woman led her across a complex that looked suspiciously like a college campus that now had enormous walls built around it.

They approached a building and Beth was pushed inside by the woman, her eyes quickly adjusting to the gloom inside. She was marched up the stairs and down the hall to a large set of rooms that had clearly once been classrooms and were now a suite of living quarters.

Inside on a plush couch sat a middle aged couple, sipping on glasses of wine, talking quietly. The woman touched her husband's arm softly and he turned to smile eagerly at Beth. Beth's stomach turned and she clenched her hands, her fingernails digging into her palms.

The woman at her side pushed her shoulder and nudged her into the room, keeping the fob in her hand, "Just do what they ask, and you won't get hurt."

Beth turned to look at her, her face white, "Really?" she whispered.

The woman stared at her and then nodded, "This time" she murmured.

Beth swallowed hard, fighting her fear and nausea. When the door slammed behind her, she closed her eyes, wishing she was dead.

* * *

The door to Lena's room swung open sending a blast of light into the room that roused her from her uneasy sleep on the ratty mattress on the floor. A moment later Beth was shoved into the room, sending her skidding to her hands and knees.

The door slammed shut, encasing the room in darkness again.

Lena crawled off the mattress to Beth who was lying on her side, trembling. Lena touched her arm softly and whispered, "Beth? What happened?"

Beth shuddered and shook her head, "Th-they u-use p-people here." Lena frowned and took her arm softly, levering Beth off the ground and slowly making her way across the room to the mattress.

Lena brushed the hair out of Beth's face and laid next to her, holding her friend close. The silence grew until Lena began to hum softly, stroking Beth's hair. She sang quietly, the Creole lullaby her daddy had sung to her, until Beth's trembling and rapid heartbeat slowed.

When her breathing evened and deepened, Lena knew her friend was asleep. She continued to hum softly, dread filling her at the thought that she would soon face whatever horrors had been torturing her sweet friend.

* * *

What must have been hours later the door swung open, light streaming into the room, rousing both women. Beth flinched away from the door and Lena sat up, blocking her face with her hand. A moment later a woman came into the room and grabbed Lena by the arm, dragging her to her feet.

Beth grabbed her hand and tried to hold on, but was hit with something, causing her to cry out in pain and fall back against the mattress, curling into a ball.

Lena was pulled out into the light and the door was slammed shut. Her eyes adjusted and she saw a woman with purple dreads in front of her, her face closed off and cold. The woman grabbed her elbow roughly and led her down a cement hallway, out the building and into the cool night.

Lena looked around curiously, eager to see where they were. It appeared to be a school or a college of some sort that had been fortified…but she didn't know Georgia well enough to identify what school.

A thought struck her a moment later…maybe they weren't in Georgia anymore.

When the woman pulled the door to a building marked "Gymnasium" open, Lena grew curious and apprehensive. She heard a crowd in the distance, but saw nothing. The woman at her side ushered her into a women's locker room and stood by her side until a siren blasted.

The door in front of them opened and the dreadlocked woman shoved Lena between the shoulders, pushing her through the door, calling out, "Good luck baby!" with a nasty laugh.

Lena glanced back for just a moment to see her smirk before she stumbled forward into an indoor pit, surrounded by bleachers, filled with cheering people. On one side of the pit was a woman, pacing back and forth, holding a bloody machete, her face covered in bruises and cuts.

Behind her, being dragged through another door was the limp, headless body of a man.

Lena swallowed hard.

She was going to die.

A man stepped out onto the pit and smiled at the crowd, "Folks, we have a special treat! This little lady has some fire! We've seen her take out walkers all by herself, use guns _and _knives, yessiree, she sure is special! Let's see how she does against our champ!"

A boo went up from the crowd and the man nodded, "Well, she won't have the advantage, that's for sure. She'll have…_the short end of the stick_ so to speak" he said with a mocking grin.

At this the door behind Lena opened and a man tossed her a long Bo staff, quickly slamming the door shut. Lena stared at the staff on the ground and then up at the audience, laughing uproariously.

She swallowed her fear and anger and leaned down to pick it up, holding it loosely by her side.

The man nodded, "Good! Begin in…threeeee" he ran from the center and jumped into the stands, "Two!...One!...GOOOOO!" he screamed.

The woman across the pit screeched at Lena, brandishing her machete, and approached rapidly. Lena appraised her opponent quickly, just like her self defense teachers had taught, and realized she had the advantage.

She quickly dropped her left leg back, bracing herself. Lifting the Bo staff with both hands, she held it parallel to the floor and recalled the very brief training they had done with staffs. It had been two sessions.

_Please god, don't let me fuck up now and die -_she prayed.

As the other woman sprinted across the pit towards her, Lena pulled the staff close and whirled, letting her pass harmlessly by. She slammed the staff into the woman's skull, then twirled it and smashed it into the base of her spine.

Spiking it between the woman's legs, she sent her sprawling bonelessly to the ground, the encounter over within moments.

Lena tossed the staff aside and walked over to kick the machete from her limp grip. The audience had gone dead quiet.

When Lena backed away and sat against the far wall, her hands resting between her knees, her eyes locked on the ground, the low buzz of voices began, growing louder until it was a cacophony.

"SILENCE!" the man roared. When the room had quieted he stood in the pit again and smiled, waving to the fallen woman and Lena.

"It appears we have a new champion…or we will." He turned and spoke to Lena, "You, woman. Look at me."

Lena knew he was talking to her, but she didn't want to look, didn't want to move. "_NOW" _he called, his voice dangerous.

Lena looked up and the man smiled. He pointed to the woman, "Finish it."

Lena stared at him for a long time, staying seated. The smile slid from his face like grease. Lena shook her head, "No" she murmured, quiet, but in the silence of the pit, it was like a shout.

The man smirked, "Then you'll die. And so will all of your friends."

Lena's stomach wrenched at the thought of Daryl or Beth dying because of her. She glared at the man and sat, hating him, until she finally nodded. She stood and went to the woman, grabbing the machete.

She looked up at the faces of the crowd and was sickened by their excitement, joy, apprehension. When she swung the machete into the fallen champion's head, it made a sound like a melon being split.

The cheer that went up was like a winning touchdown had been scored at the Superbowl.

Lena turned away and dropped the machete, her soul shuddering.

"You'll want to keep that, champion." The man called over to her, resuming his place in the stands.

She watched as the doors opened and a pair of men ran in to haul the body of the fallen champion out before a young boy was unceremoniously shoved into the pit. Lena stared at him, horrified.

He couldn't have been more than 18.

He nervously pushed the glasses on his face further up the bridge of his nose and looked around worriedly, before setting his sights on her. When they didn't offer him a weapon and the boy stripped off his sweater, revealing a muscular body, Lena cursed.

They were deliberately trying to throw her off with his youth, she would bet on it. She leaned down and picked up the machete, backing away rapidly.

When the young man smirked at her and turned to the crowd to smile and wave, she was certain.

_Fuck these people. I'll kill whoever I have to.-_she thought to herself.

When the boy moved lightly across the pit towards her, she watched his movements, reading his body for weakness. He was taller than her by a good 6 inches, and outweighed her by at least 50 pounds. There was almost no way she could win this through sheer brute force….

Unless….

Smiling, Lena gripped the machete and backed away rapidly until the Bo staff was in reach. She crouched and with a mighty swing, split it into two. The boy stopped to watch her curiously.

She smirked at him and stuck the machete into the ground, stripped her Henley sweater off, wrapped it around her waist tightly, forming a knot at her hip, and then snatched up the machete, sticking it through her makeshift holster.

Realizing what she was doing, he began to run at her. Snatching up her two pieces of Bo staff, Lena used them to parry his blows, her feet dancing to keep her just out of reach of his deadly grip.

She moved smoothly out of defense and into offense, pushing him back, aiming her blows for his kidneys, liver, spleen. While he was distracted by those, she used her feet to smash his kneecap, sending him reeling.

The boy fell hard to one knee, glaring up at her, his face a mask of rage. When one of his hands locked around one of the Bo staffs, he overpowered her slowly, wrenching it to the side until he pulled it from her hand.

Lena let the momentum pull her, and then swung back around, using the other Bo staff to back hand him across the face, unexpectedly, from his facial expression. He collapsed backwards, his eyes unfocused.

Lena swung again with the staff and was caught by surprise when his hand snatched it from the air. _How the fuck did he manage that?-_ she wondered briefly before he turned the staff on her and smashed it into her ribs and then her head.

She reeled back and shook her head, trying to clear the flashing lights from her vision. She heard him struggling to his feet and blinked rapidly, catching glimpses of him moving towards her unsteadily.

She looked about for the other half of the staff and saw it, nearly 20 feet away. It was either that, or the machete. Her head still reeling from the last blow he had dealt her, she decided to use the machete.

Pulling it out from her waist, she parried his blows and stumbled away, her breathing coming in gasps now. The boy spun and clipped her ribs with the staff, sending a line of shrieking pain across them.

She hacked at the staff and was surprised when it broke, leaving him with a stub of wood. From the look on his face, he clearly hadn't been expecting it either. Taking that brief moment, she lunged, leaving a long slash across his chest.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise as blood began to pour out. He stumbled towards her, and then collapsed on his knees. Lena stepped back and watched as he turned white, his life flowing from him.

When he collapsed backwards and ceased to breath, she sank down onto the sandy ground, the machete still gripped tightly in her hand.

The sound of wild cheering didn't reach her.

When the men came for her machete, she didn't fight.

When the woman with purple dreads steered her to showers and told her to undress and shower, she moved like a walker, jerky, unthinking, dead-eyed. The water ran red with the blood of others.

When she was clean the woman gave her clean clothes and led her back to the cell with Beth. Lena sank back down onto the mattress, staring up into the darkness.

"What happened Lena?" Beth asked softly.

Lena reached out and took Beth's hand, squeezing it. "Death" she whispered, sending a shiver over her friend's skin.

The two women lay in silence and darkness, wondering how they were going to survive this hell, and what was happening to Daryl.

* * *

The door swung open, sending piercing light into Daryl's eyes. His head pounded and he closed his eyes, turning his head away.

"Get up!" a man called out.

Daryl contemplated laying there an ignoring him, but knew it would probably lead to violence. Instead he rolled onto his side and stumbled to his feet, making his way unsteadily to the door. He clung to the doorframe, his head swimming, and waited.

The man reached out and grabbed Daryl's face, tilting it toward the light, making him wince and groan softly. The man smiled, his expression bone chilling.

"You'll do nicely" he murmured. Grabbing Daryl's arm, he dragged him down the hallways and into a room filled with showers. Forcing him to strip, he shoved Daryl into the showers and turned on the water, watching as he scrubbed himself clean.

When he was done the man tossed him a towel to dry off with and wrap around his waist. "Let's go" the man commanded, dragging him down the hall and into another room, filled with racks of clothing and tables of makeup.

A woman with purple dreads wove through the racks of clothing and held out a stack of clothes to Daryl. Daryl took it begrudgingly, riffling through them, disgruntled to find a suit, tie and dress shoes. He looked up at the man and woman staring at him, their smirks infuriating.

He dropped his towel and dressed quickly, fumbling with the tie until the man sighed in exasperation and fixed it for him, knocking his hands aside. When he was dressed the woman grabbed something and tied it around his neck, tucking it under his shirt collar.

She held up a fob and smirked, "You don't want me to have to use this." Leading him out of the room and out of the building into mid morning light, Daryl squinted at the brightness, his head throbbing.

The woman led him across the green until they came to a stately house. They went to the third floor where the woman knocked at the door, and then pushed it open to reveal a lavish interior.

Inside a woman sat behind a large wooden desk, staring intently at her paperwork. When the door opened and Daryl was pushed in, she looked up, smiling brightly.

"Oh perfect, right on time!" she exclaimed.

The woman with dreads nodded, "You have your fob?" she asked.

The other woman nodded, "I doubt I'll need it. Thank you."

The woman with dreads nodded sharply, "I'll be back in two hours." Closing the door behind her, she walked away and left the woman to her pleasure.

Daryl stared at the woman and stayed by the door, his anxiety growing. The woman smiled, "I do believe you and I are going to have some fun."

Daryl felt his stomach turn and prayed that nothing like this was happening to Lena or Beth. He would kill every person here.

The woman wiggled a finger, "Come here" she murmured, giving him a sultry look. Daryl stared at her for a long moment, and when her smile slipped, her fingers inching towards the fob on the table, he sighed and moved away from the door.

She smiled brightly, "Good!"

Daryl looked around the enormous room, noting the large windows behind her that were covered in blinds, the door to the side of the bookshelves, and lastly, the lack of weapons in the room. As he came around the desk towards the woman, he made a quick decision.

He wasn't going to be used.

He was going to escape.

Grabbing the woman around the waist, he pressed himself flush against her back and put his other hand to her throat softly, tilting her head back, his lips at her ear. "Is that whatcha like?" he growled softly.

She gasped and nodded, pushing her body back against his like a cat. Daryl rolled his eyes and swallowed his disgust for these people before kissing her neck a few times, listening as she gasped in pleasure.

His eyes caught on a letter opener lying on the desk.

His hand at her throat tightened quickly, cutting off her air in a squeak. She struggled against him, but Daryl was far stronger, his muscular arm around her waist coming around to pin her arms down.

A few moments later her struggling stopped and Daryl lowered her unconscious form into the chair. Tugging the tie from his neck he rooted through the desk until he found scissors and cut it in two, tying her arms down.

Tucking the scissors and the letter opener in his pockets, Daryl rooted through the office for any other weapons, desperate. He paused, realizing that the woman probably lived in this house. Walking silently to the door he slowly eased it open and peered out.

When he saw no one on the landing he made his way down the stairs to the second floor and began looting the rooms for weapons. He eventually found a knife block in the kitchen on the first floor and exchanged the letter opener for four knives, two at each ankle, and two more at his waist.

He peered out the front windows, looking for guards or patrols and was puzzled not to see any. If these people didn't let the prisoners out very frequently, then the building they kept them in….

He looked across the long green expanse where he had been led and saw a set of guards in front of the squat grey building. That was it then. There was too much exposure.

Daryl walked to the back of the house and looked out the back door towards the walls and the backs of the other buildings. If he skirted along those, he should be able to get to the other building without being seen.

Pushing the back door open he kept his head low and stayed close to the backs of the buildings, moving quickly. As he got closer, he heard a commotion, shouting, gunfire, and underneath it all, the low moan of the undead.

Daryl quickened his pace and ran to the building, only to find half a dozen walkers chowing down on a group of bodies. When one of them looked up, Daryl saw it was the woman with purple dreds, her throat cut.

The doors to the building banged open and Daryl's gaze was drawn momentarily away from the female walker who was rising unsteadily towards him. Reinforcements had arrived.

They began to shoot the walkers in the head, until suddenly; two walkers emerged from behind them and began attacking.

Daryl took the opportunity to run past the carnage and into the building, his knife drawn, and search for Lena and Beth. When he turned the corner past the showers and back towards where he thought he remembered the cells being, he stopped short.

Lena had a woman pushed against the wall, a knife sticking into her throat, and a feral expression on her face. Her face was streaked with blood and her clothes were soaked with it.

Beth was sitting in the doorway of a cell, on top of the Hispanic man who had taken them, her hand curled around a large Bowie knife, plunged deep into his heart.

Daryl took just one moment to look at the situation before calling out, "Lena! Beth! Time ta go!" The women jerked and looked up at his voice, shock going through them, and then nodded. The trio stayed close, running out of the building and towards what looked like a large entrance.

The dead would soon rise and spread, bringing this place down.

For now, they needed a way out. Daryl pointed to a large parking lot where multiple vehicles were parked. Abandoned beside it were a log book and a tray of keys. He scanned the book and noted that a jeep had a full tank and rooted for the keys.

They ran to the jeep and slammed the doors shut, driving quickly for the entrance. The guard at the gate was no longer on duty, the radio in the stand crackling with screams. Lena jumped out and pressed a button to open the gate.

As it rolled open, they peeled out, never looking back.

Daryl pushed the jeep hard on the road, putting miles between them and the horror show that they had been in. The women sat in the back, holding onto each other. After nearly an hour he saw a sign on the road that read, **_Chattanooga-10miles_**

Lena leaned forward, "We're in Tennessee?" she asked.

Daryl nodded, "Jus a few miles from Chattanooga. Can ya come up here an see if there's a map in tha glove box?" he asked.

Lena nodded and crawled into the front seat before rooting through the glove box. After a moment she shook her head, "Nothing."

Daryl swore and shook his head, "We can try ta go back for our things, but they knew where we were." He glanced over at her, "What do ya want ta do?" he asked.

Lena looked back at Beth who was staring blankly out the window, her fingers twining through her hair. Turning back to Daryl she shook her head, "We can't get anywhere without food or our supplies. We need to go back."

Daryl nodded, "Okay. Then we need a map."

Lena nodded, "Find a gas station or a rest stop and I'll find one while you stay with Beth."

Daryl gave her a warning look, but Lena shook her head, "She can't be alone. You have to."

Daryl sighed and nodded. They drove in silence for awhile, the bright sunlight in sharp contrast to the dark thoughts of everyone in the car.

Two miles into Georgia Daryl pulled into a rest stop. Lena grabbed her knife and leaped out of the car, heading for the large building when Beth's voice stopped her.

"Wait! You can't go in there alone!"

Lena turned and found her friend striding after her, knife in hand. Daryl followed her closely, giving Lena a wry look. Lena shook her head and shrugged, "Fine, but we need to be quick."

Beth nodded and gripped her knife tightly, staying close to Lena. When they entered the building they immediately saw three walkers which they split up and took out quickly.

As Lena rifled through the maps, Beth and Daryl provided cover, keeping an eye out for more. Lena finally found both a map of Georgia, and the Atlanta region. When she checked behind the large desk, she found a more extensive atlas and took that as well.

On their way out they raided the vending machines, taking bags of expired chips and cans of stale soda.

When they were back in the jeep they ate an unsatisfying meal of stale vending machine food before Lena found the highway they were on, and which roads they would need to take to get back to Dawsonville.

It would take roughly 2 hours, based on mileage, though Lena wasn't sure of her math. She looked at Beth in the back, staring out the window again, silent and blank faced, and then to Daryl, who seemed strained around the eyes and looked exhausted.

Reaching over to touch his arm softly, she smiled gently when he looked over at her. "Why don't I drive?" she offered.

He shook his head, frowning at her. "Nah. You rest. You…what happened…you rest." He reached out and touched her cheek softly before turning to start the jeep and pull away from the rest center.

Lena watched him as they drove, wondering what had happened to him. Wondering if she could tell him what had happened to her. To Beth.

She reached over and laid her hand on his leg, her eyes falling closed, grateful for the warm sun on her face, lulling her into a gentle doze. A few moments later she felt Daryl's hand rest on top of hers, and she smiled, squeezing his leg softly.

* * *

Two and half hours later, Daryl pulled into the police barracks where they had been taken three days ago. Their car was still in the parking lot, their bags still tossed onto the ground. Daryl looked around for his crossbow, and didn't see it.

Swearing, he kicked the car and ran a hand through his hair. Lena touched his arm gently, "Hey, we can go to the mall and get you a new one."

Daryl nodded, it was true, but that one had been his since he was a boy. Merle had given it to him. Lena sensed his unhappiness and squeezed his arm, "I'm sorry."

Daryl nodded again but stayed quiet as they loaded their bags into the jeep before heading to the large house and emptying it. When they were done the entire trunk and nearly half of the backseat were filled.

Daryl looked around at the women, "What now?" he asked.

Lena and Beth looked at each other and then to Daryl, exchanging looks of puzzlement. Lena finally frowned and touched her own shirt, "Showers. We change out of these clothes and then we drive to the Bayou like we talked about."

She looked over at Beth and smiled, "What do you think? Put this place in our rearview? Go live on the beach?"

Beth stared down at her hands for a long time, mulling it over, and then looked up at them. Smiling softly, she nodded, "Let's go."

Daryl smirked and nodded, turning the jeep towards the police barracks. Once they had showered and changed, the trio tossed their dirty, bloody, torn clothing into a pile and set it on fire, watching it burn for a few moments.

Beth held Lena's hand as they did her grip bone crushing. Lena's was equally tight, her jaw taught with anger. After a moment she pulled on Beth's hand and led her back to the car.

When Daryl made to try and drive, Lena shook her head, "I've got it." At the look on her face, Daryl realized it was pointless to argue and handed her the keys.

As they turned onto the highway and sped away, Lena looked into the rearview mirror and silently cursed the evil that had taken them.

Turning her gaze forward, she focused on thoughts of the beach, sunsets, and if they were lucky, mixed drinks.


	18. Hope

_**AN: Hello dearest readers! I am so happy that you all are enjoying the story. The story will be wrapping up in another two chapters, and I hope you will review and let me know what you think! Thank you as always for reading! **_

* * *

Lena drove for nearly 5 1/2 hours before her eyes grew achy and the sun had set. By that time both Beth and Daryl had been asleep for three hours, and she was starting to feel exhausted. The headlights struck on a sign; **_Mobile, AL- 5 miles. _**

She sighed and at the next exit pulled off, turning down a side road until she found a house and parked in front of it. When the car stopped Daryl woke, looking around, confused. Lena smiled at him and pointed to the house, "Resting place for tonight, tomorrow we keep going till we hit the beach."

Daryl nodded and pushed his hair out of his face, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Lena turned and laid her hand on Beth's knee softly, shaking her gently. "Beth, wake up."

Beth snapped awake sharply, her eyes wild, her body rigid. Lena raised her hands slowly and made soft, comforting noises. "Shh Beth, it's ok. It' just me. We're resting for tonight. You ready to go in?" she asked softly.

Beth breathed rapidly and nodded.

Lena smiled gently and reached out again, squeezing Beth's knee, "Come on, let's go inside, ok?" she murmured.

Beth nodded again and exited the Jeep, gathering up her bag and a few of the bags of supplies before heading towards the house. Lena quickly went after her, knife in hand. She brushed past Beth and pushed the front door open, clearing the house quickly, taking out a walker in the kitchen.

Beth dropped the bags of supplies in the kitchen and went upstairs to the bedrooms, dropping her bags by the bed and laying down, curling into a ball.

Lena dragged the body of the walker outside before helping Daryl bring the rest of their things inside. When they had locked the house up around them, she turned to Daryl as they stood in the living room and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his chest.

Daryl stiffened for a moment in surprise and then wrapped his arms around her tightly, burying his face in her neck, breathing deeply the soft scent of her skin.

"Can we go to bed now?" Lena whispered. Daryl nodded and took her hand willingly, following her up the stairs to the other bedroom. Lena tugged her boots and pants off, unbuttoning her shirt and tugged her bra off from underneath her tank top.

Crawling under the blankets, she smiled tiredly; watching as Daryl pulled his sweater and pants off, wearing just his boxers as he slid beneath the covers. He rolled towards her, his hand lying softly on her waist as he faced her.

"You alright?" he asked, his voice a whisper. Daryl had no idea what had happened to Lena or Beth, but from their behavior, he knew it couldn't be good.

Lena closed her eyes for a moment and then whispered, "Not really. They made me fight. If I didn't they would have killed me, and you and Beth. I had to kill two people before they put me back in my cell."

Daryl could feel her shaking under his hand and grew angry all over again, wanting to fill the people in that hellhole full of arrows. He instead gathered her closer and ran a hand over her cheek, wishing he could take her pain away.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could kill em" Daryl murmured.

Lena gave him a brittle ghost of a smile and touched his cheek softly, "Thank you. But what happened to me is nothing compared to what I think happened to Beth." She closed her eyes and sighed, tucking her head under his chin. "I think they used her for sex…I think she was raped."

Daryl's stomach turned and he felt like throwing up. "Ya sure?" he whispered.

Lena nodded, "She told me they use people and smelled like she had perfume on, plus her face was all made up. I think they dressed her up like some doll and gave her to people." Tears streamed down her face quietly and she took a shuddering breath, "When they came for her again, we were ready. They shouldn't have put us together."

Lena laughed bitterly and continued, "We hid in the corner where the light from the door wouldn't expose us. When the woman with the dreds came in, we attacked her and killed her. We took her weapons and killed the guards close by, stashing their bodies in our cell. When they turned we lured them out and set them on the others."

Daryl rubbed her back softly, "That was smart, y'all did good." He felt her flinch when his hand ran over her side, across her ribs. Pulling away slightly he lifted her shirt and frowned deeply at the purpling bruise across her ribs.

"It's from the fights, I'll be fine" Lena murmured, pushing his hand away gently before pulling her shirt back down. Daryl made soft grumbling noises and surprised her by leaning in to kiss her softly.

His rough hand cupped her cheek and Lena felt like he was breathing a sense of peace into her as they kissed. She could feel his heart beating, steady and strong, just like him. When they broke away she smiled at him, running her fingers over his cheekbones.

They lay together in silence, words no longer needed to express their feelings. When they fell asleep, Lena felt safe, wrapped in Daryl's arms.

* * *

Beth lay in bed, looking out the window as the moonlight streamed in. It illuminated her face and torso, bathing them in an icy whiteness. Looking at the bruises along her arms, Beth cringed, remembering what had happened to her.

She rolled over and sighed in frustration when her long hair tangled around her face and throat. She could hear the man who had raped her whispering, "Your hair is like the sun, so beautiful and soft."

Her stomach rose in revulsion and she darted out of bed and into the bathroom where she threw up what little food was in her stomach. Rinsing her mouth out into the sink, she stared at her reflection, so pale and wide-eyed.

Walking out to her bags, she grabbed her knife and went to stand in front of the mirror. Grabbing her hair, she separated it into two thick chunks and quickly hacked through them until her hair was short, hanging just below her ears.

She trimmed the edges for a few moments and then set the knife down, fluffing out her hair and brushing her shoulders off. Her lips lifted for a moment in a half smile before falling. She gathered up the remnants of her hair and tossed it into the trash before turning and walking back to bed.

Crawling under the covers she tucked her knife under the pillow and stared out the window at the moon and stars again, her head lighter, fewer dark thoughts swirling around. As her eyes drifted shut a short while later, she felt a sense of peace, knowing she was safe with her friends…her family really.

* * *

The next morning dawned grey and cloudy, a light rain sprinkling down on the house. Lena sighed and snuggled into Daryl's side, murmuring softly, "We should stay in bed. It's a good day for it."

Daryl's lips twitched into a half smile and he ran a hand over her hair, "Well we don have any particular place ta be…why don we stay in an relax, figure out where we want ta go?" he murmured.

Lena nodded and stretched, feeling luxurious. Daryl's eyes drifted closed as he pulled her closer, his leg thrown over her hip, bringing her round bottom flush against him. Lena ran her fingers over Daryl's skin, smiling.

"Remember when we talked about what we would do if things went back to normal?" she asked quietly. Daryl hummed in agreement and she continued, "I would spend it just like this, with you. Except we wouldn't have to worry about walkers, or gangs of psychos, or going hungry. I would spend it with you, being happy."

Daryl pressed his lips to the crook of her neck to hide his smile. "Ya think you'd be with me if things went back ta normal?" he asked.

Lena nodded, "I do. I'm looking forward to laying on the beach with you for a long time mister."

Daryl grinned at the thought of Lena in a bikini and him lying next to her in swim trunks…he had never even owned swim trunks. The idea of spending the rest of his life with her, being happy, was something that would never have crossed his mind until now. Except now he was happy, despite everything that had happened.

"I can't wait to lay on tha beach with ya, see ya in a bikini, have ya be happy." He kissed her neck again and curled his hand around her waist, holding her close.

"I'll be happy as long as you're there" Lena murmured.

She and Daryl lay together for awhile longer until the scent of coffee roused them, surprising, welcome, and hearty.

Lena pulled on her pants and bra, quickly redressing while Daryl dressed. They walked downstairs and found Beth in the kitchen, making coffee and powdered eggs. Lena stared at her friend in surprise, her newly shortened hair was blocking her face, but Lena could swear she heard Beth humming softly.

When the floor creaked under them, Beth turned and smiled, a little hollow, a little broken, but still full of light and warmth. "I'm making coffee and breakfast, if y'all are hungry."

Lena smiled and walked into the kitchen, "That sounds great, can I help?" she offered.

Beth nodded, pointing to the supply bags, "Can you get some granola bars to go with the eggs?" she asked. Lena nodded and dug through the bags until she found granola bars, setting them on plates by the stove.

Beth smiled and slid the eggs onto the plates before pointing to the mugs on the counter, "I used coffee filters and string to create little pouches. The water has been steeping for about ten minutes, so it should be strong."

Lena grabbed the mugs and carried the carefully to the small table where Beth set down the plates a moment later. Daryl sat down and waited until both women were seated before reaching for his mug of coffee.

Taking a long sip, his eyes closed in appreciation, enjoying the first taste of the delicious drink in months. Beth and Lena both sipped on their coffee, silently nodding at each other, smiling. They ate in silence, enjoying the food and companionship.

As the rain continued to come down they came together in the living room under blankets, talking about their lives before everything went to hell, what they were looking forward to when things went back to normal, and ultimately, if they thought things could ever be normal again.

Beth shook her head, "No. This is the way things are now. Maybe someday things will be under control more, but there's no going back." She ran her fingers through her shortened hair and grimaced, "There's no going back from this."

Lena sighed, "I dunno. Maybe there's some form of government or military somewhere that can fix things…all I really want is to be safe, for however long I can be. I want you to stay with me and be safe too."

Beth reached out and took her hand, smiling sadly, "I won't leave you. You're my family now."

Daryl came back into the room then, having disappeared for a short time. In his hands he carried a box, labeled _Monopoly. _He held it up and pointed to Beth, "Never have I ever. Wanna play?" he asked.

Beth laughed, grateful for the lightening of the mood. Nodding, she and Lena gathered around the coffee table and helped set up the board, explaining the rules to Daryl. As the rain pattered down on the roof, they played, laughter filling the house.

* * *

The next morning they rose and packed the jeep, Beth taking over the driving. Daryl spread out across the back seat, his feet hanging out the window as they drove. Lena fiddled with the radio, knowing it was futile, but still hoping for some music.

Half an hour later the static changed to a voice, "We thank those of you that are listening. We know how hard it is for people to find power and hear us, so for those of you listening, welcome. This is Free America Radio, and we're bringing you news on the outbreak."

Lena gasped and turned it up, "For those of you on the east coast, we want to let you know that the outbreak and the undead are most prevalent around large cities. There have however been large packs of the undead roaming from these cities into smaller suburban areas. We would advise that any survivors travel in packs, and make sure you spread the word about how to survive. Headshots people, that's how you put them back down."

Daryl leaned forward and scoffed, "Tell me something I don know" he muttered.

"Now, for our weather report. Well…frankly, it's raining here, so 100% chance of rain! Sorry folks. How about news of a cure?" the man offered lightly. "Well, truthfully, we don't have any news. The last we knew, the CDC was working on something, but we had word spread to us that it exploded. If you have other news, we're in the Philadelphia area."

He sighed and continued, "We've had word that friends of ours who were trying to get to Canada didn't make it. That's less of the good guys." For a long time the station went quiet. Finally the man spoke again, his voice softer, "Well, here's some music for you. Let's think about better times, huh?"

A moment later the upbeat strains of a long forgotten pop song started playing. Lena smiled over at Beth, humming along. Within a few moments both women were singing softly, smiling. Daryl leaned back, throwing his arm over his eyes. The music wasn't terrible, but he definitely would have preferred some classic rock.

A few hours later they pulled into a tiny town in Louisiana, Lafitte. As they cruised down the road, Beth looked around, noting the lack of walkers. Perhaps they were all in the city? There were enough marshes and bayous in between Lafitte and New Orleans to hopefully keep the walkers at bay.

Beth stopped on the road and pointed, "How about that house?" she asked. Lena looked over at the small brick house and nodded, it looked safe and big enough for all of them. Beth pulled into the driveway a few moments later and shut the jeep off.

Daryl jumped out of the back and grabbed his knife, heading to the door to check for walkers. Lena and Beth grabbed their bags, following close behind. Daryl came out a few minutes later, nodding, "It's clear" he called.

The women nodded and followed him inside, raising their eyebrows at the mess. It was clear that whoever had been living there before hadn't been big on cleaning. As they unpacked in their rooms Lena looked around and nodded, "We can clean up and this place will be really nice."

Daryl laughed, "I don think it matters if tha curtains are old."

Lena grinned, "I guess not, but it would be nice if we could have new ones, and some things to brighten up the place."

Daryl smirked and shook his head, "Whatever ya say."

Lena danced over and grabbed his leather vest, pulling him down for a kiss. "I do say" she murmured.

* * *

A few days later they had cleared out the spoiled food, moldy blankets and sheets, and drug the couch out into the yard to try and roust a nest of mice out of it. Lena and Beth scrubbed the house down with water from the local aquifer, and filled numerous containers so they wouldn't have to worry about supplies.

Daryl reinforced the doors with sheets of metal from the Home Depot twenty miles away and set traps in the small town to keep any walkers away.

After a week the house had new rugs, curtains, sheets, and towels. Lena and Beth were finishing up painting their rooms when Daryl came in from the backyard, rinsing his face and hands with the water pump out back.

Poking his head into Beth's room, he tilted his head and smiled softly. She had painted the walls a cheery Kelly green with one wall behind the bed painted a soft gold. The soft gold curtains complimented the room, softening the midday light that streamed in.

He heard laughter and turned, walking up to the room he and Lena were sharing. When he looked in he saw that the room had been painted a slate blue with a stripe of chocolate brown running through the middle of the walls, giving the room a cozy appearance. Lena and Beth were busy hanging curtains in white; simple cotton ones that went well with the understated elegance of the room.

Daryl raised a brow; he had never lived in a place as nice as this. The bed had new blue and brown striped sheets with a soft almond colored comforter on top. It looked like the perfect place to recline after spending hours in the backyard digging in the garden.

Kicking his boots off, he shuffled over to the bed and flopped down, peering up at Lena and Beth as they worked to hang the curtains. Lena turned and smiled at him over her shoulder before helping Beth screw the final piece into place.

When they were finished, Lena and Beth flopped down on the bed, giggling when Daryl grumbled. Lena nudged Beth, grinning, "What's for dinner?"

Beth groaned and rolled her eyes, wishing it wasn't her turn to make dinner. She had planned on using the leftover turkey to make chili, but knew that they were all getting tired of her chili. Thinking for a few minutes she smiled, "I think I can make a turkey pot pie. The flour doesn't have any bugs in it…and the Crisco hasn't gone bad, so I think it'll work. I'll see what I can do about the filling."

Lena nodded and smiled, "Sounds delicious. Let me know if I can help."

Beth smiled at her, "Thanks." Rolling onto her side and then off the bed she walked down the hall to her room, smiling at how gorgeous it was. The past week had given her tasks, things to feel accomplished about, easing the gnawing sensation inside her when she thought about what had happened.

She cranked the radio in her room for a few minutes and then turned it to the Free America Radio, listening to the blends of music as she lay on her bed. It had been so long since she had been able to just lie still and feel at peace, to not feel like she had to run from something or to somewhere.

It was nice.

* * *

Four months later Lena and Beth were working in the garden, pulling potatoes and carrots out as they talked softly. The corn still had another week until it was ripe, and the tomato plants were heavy with fruit.

The women filled their baskets, enjoying the warm sun on their faces. Beth grinned and reached out, poking Lena's nose, "You have freckles" she said, laughing when Lena reached out with her dirty hands and swiped them across her face.

"You do too silly, and now you're dirty." The women laughed and gathered up their baskets, heading back inside. Daryl was out on a hunting trip, gathering as much game as possible for the coming months. They hadn't seen any survivors in months, but the radio transmissions were providing them with proof that the world was still alive, still struggling.

As Beth and Lena prepared dinner, they sang hymns, pop songs, and anything else they could think of. They had first discovered their love of song months earlier when Beth was still tortured by her memories of their time in the horrible camp. Lena had taken to singing to Beth in an attempt to calm her, and when Beth had heard her voice, it was as though a light was being shined into the darkness of her mind.

As the pot pie baked in the coals of the fireplace Lena knitted, frowning fiercely down at the wool. She was trying to make a simple scarf, but it wasn't going well. Sighing, she tossed it aside and decided to go for a run.

Walking down the hall to Beth's room, she knocked on the frame and smiled at her friend, "Hey, I'm going for a run. You'll be ok here alone?" she asked.

Beth nodded, grinning. "Giving up so soon on knitting?" she asked.

Lena laughed, "Yea. You're good?" she asked.

Beth nodded, waving her off, "Get outta here."

Lena nodded and went to change quickly before tucking her knife into her waist holster. As she jogged down the street, her breathing evened out and she set a steady pace. It was a clear, warm day in early September, the breeze coming off the nearby bay smelling briny and warm.

Lena ran past the barriers they had erected around the town to funnel any walkers out and around to a large pit that they routinely cleaned out. There was no sound or smell of walkers near the walls and when Lena jogged up the streets she could see the signs in town that they had hung to alert people to the safety they could provide.

She ran down to the bay and sighed when her feet sank into the sand, her gait changing. Sweat trickled down her face in the midday heat and she ran down the beach to a small inlet where she came to a stop and bent over, catching her breath.

Leaning down she splashed the cool water onto her face and neck before jogging back up onto the road and heading back towards their house. As she turned onto their street she saw a rangy figure walking towards the house, carrying something large across its shoulders.

Lena grinned, recognizing Daryl. It had been three days since she had seen him, and she was eager to have him back. Sprinting down the road she laughed as Daryl dropped the load of dead animal from his shoulders and grabbed her up, spinning her around, his arms tight around her waist, kissing her deeply.

When Lena pulled away, her legs wrapped around Daryl's waist, she smiled brilliantly down at him. "I missed you" she murmured.

Daryl cupped her cheek and kissed her again, sighing with happiness. "Missed ya too" he whispered. He pulled her head back down for another longer, deeper kiss, breathing in the scent of her musky skin.

Lena sighed and brushed her nose against his, smiling. "Dinner is going to be ready, why don't I help you carry this stuff in?" she asked.

Daryl nodded and lowered her gently to the ground. Lena grabbed a turkey while Daryl slung the small doe over his shoulders, the couple walking towards the house talking softly.

"I think I saw others…survivors." Daryl murmured softly.

Lena shot him a surprised look and then smiled, "Well, it was bound to happen. Did you talk to any of them?" she asked.

He shook his head and headed to the back yard where the smoke house and slaughter table were. Flopping the deer onto the table, he began to dress it, skinning it quickly and efficiently. "Naw, I watched em though. They seem peaceable an willin to live by rules."

Lena nodded and set the turkey down, leaning against the table, thinking; the small town was well fortified and could hold a few hundred people. If they found these survivors and brought them here, they could have a community.

"Do you think it's safe to bring them here?" she asked softly. She trusted Daryl's judgment; she knew he wouldn't willingly let anyone dangerous near them.

After a few moments he nodded, "I think it'll be fine. They're about 10 miles away, we can find em pretty easy in a day or so."

Lena nodded and moved away from the table, leaning in to kiss his cheek, "Ok, well, I'm going to clean off a bit before dinner. When you're done here, you clean up too."

Daryl nodded absently and continued butchering the deer, listening to her retreat into the house. Forty minutes later he had finished cleaning the deer and turkey and had hung the meat in the smoker. Rinsing his hands off under the stream from the pump in the backyard, he glanced towards the house when he heard laughter.

He was so happy to be home, but his mind lingered on the survivors he had seen. He washed his face off and pushed his greasy hair back. He wondered each day about Rick, Carol, Carl and the others, if they had made it somewhere safe, or if they were all dead.

He was sure that eventually people would find them, and he wanted to make sure that their home and the town was ready. Were they ready?

Kicking his boots off by the door, he went inside and found the table set, the casserole dish steaming with a pot pie, and plates full of fresh vegetables. Beth hugged him fiercely, "Good to have you back" she murmured.

Daryl squeezed her back briefly before pulling away and smiling, "Glad ta be back." He pointed to the food, "Do I have time ta clean up before we eat?" he asked.

Beth nodded and shoved his shoulder, "Please do, ya stink!" she said with a giggle. Daryl laughed and shook his head, walking down the hall to his bedroom. Shutting the door behind him, he smothered a smile at the sight of Lena sitting on their bed, brow furrowed as she attempted to knit.

At the sound of the door she looked up and grinned, tossing the knitting aside. "I'm so bad at this" she declared.

Daryl nodded and began to undress, "Well you don have ta be good at everythin darling" he murmured. Lena grinned and hopped off the bed, sauntering over to push him back against the wall, her hand snaking down beneath the waistband of his pants.

Grasping him, she pressed kisses to his chest as she began stroking him, scraping her teeth over his skin, sending shudders through his body as she increased the pace of her strokes. Daryl's head dropped back against the wall, his breath coming faster at Lena's touch.

A moment later when her hand pulled away and unbuckled his pants, pulling them down to his ankles, his eyes flickered open and he watched as she sank to her knees, smiling wickedly up at him.

Daryl smothered a moan when her hot mouth captured his dick, her teeth skimming over him, her tongue swirling around him like a lollipop. His hand came up and twisted in her hair, tilting her head up so he could see her eyes.

Lena shifted and took Daryl deeper, letting out a small moan when he groaned in pleasure. His hips twitched gently against her, his knees shaking with pleasure as he stifled moans. Lena gripped his hip and with her other hand she gripped his balls, rubbing them, teasing him.

Daryl shuddered and gasped, feeling the pleasure building low in his body, spreading out, building. Lena bobbed her head faster, sucking on him harder, still playing with his balls. Daryl groaned as his orgasm came crashing down, his load spurting out hot and hard into Lena's mouth.

She swallowed him, sucking him hard until Daryl felt so weak and shaky that he could barely lean against the wall. Lena broke away and stood, pressing kisses to Daryl's neck, whispering, "I may suck at knitting, but I'm good at that huh?"

Daryl gripped her waist tightly and nuzzled her neck, "Yer good at a lot of things. That wasn good…that was great."

Lena laughed softly and pulled away slightly, kissing him softly, "Mmm, well, I'm glad. Now go clean up so we can eat." Daryl nodded and went to the bathroom to wash off, using the stored water and rags.

A few minutes later he had washed all the grime, sweat and grease from his body and hair, no longer smelling of anything but soap. He dressed quickly in clean jeans and a sweater, walking out to the kitchen where the women were sitting and drinking from wine glasses.

Lena smiled up at him and handed him a glass of amber liquid. Sniffing it suspiciously, he looked down to her, raising a brow. Lena laughed, "It's some of the whiskey we found."

He nodded and sipped, sitting down beside her and nodding his thanks when Beth shoveled a large piece of pot pie onto his plate. As they ate, Daryl explained how he had seen a group, and how he thought they could come and live here.

Beth stared at her plate for a few minutes and then asked, "What are they like?"

Daryl sighed, "They seem like good people. I didn see them hurt anybody. They had women an children too. I was surprised…I aint seen a kid in…years."

Beth sighed and nodded, "Okay…we should find them then." Daryl and Lena nodded and the discussion progressed to where they thought the newcomers could live, how they could feed them, and numerous plans for if they ended up being unfriendly.

When dinner was over Daryl cleaned the dishes while the women sat outside by the small fire, drinking wine. When he went outside Lena rose and allowed him to sit before sinking down in his lap, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

Long after the stars had come out and the fire had burned down Lena had fallen asleep in Daryl's lap, her soft breaths tickling his neck. Beth smiled at them and gathered her blanket close, standing and waving goodnight silently.

Daryl nodded and gathered Lena close, carrying her to their bedroom and gently laying her on the bed. Tugging his pants and sweater off, he lay down beside her and gathered her close, breathing in her soft scent, feeling at home with her in his arms.

* * *

Beth lay in her bed staring up at the ceiling, wondering what would happen the next day when they went to find the people that Daryl had encountered on his hunting trip. She was worried that the influx of new people would mean trouble for them.

Daryl had said something about children….she didn't think that people with children could possibly be bad….at least, she had to hope that was true. She had to hope that there were still good people in the world.

She had to have hope.


	19. New Hope

**_AN: Hey guys! One more chapter! I hope you have enjoyed the story, I know I've loved writing it. Please review and gimme your thoughts! Thank you all for reading! _**

* * *

The next morning dawned grey and cloudy, with a light rain falling. Lena dressed warmly, tying her hair up into a bun before she slid her ball cap on. Daryl had a long sleeved shirt on under his leathers, forgoing a hat, ignoring Lena's muttering about getting sick.

They met Beth in the front yard and climbed into the jeep before driving down the streets and turning onto the highway leading into the town. They drove for nearly 10 miles before Daryl pulled to a stop on the side of the road, parking the jeep in a small inlet, hiding it behind trees.

Shouldering his crossbow, he waved them into the trees. "They were camped about a mile in from here, an another mile northeast." The women nodded and followed him, walking quietly, their hands on their knives.

As they walked through the forest, the wind blew snatches of sound towards them, along with rain into their faces. Daryl tilted his head and listened, making sure they weren't walking towards a herd of walkers. It sounded more like a group of people, the group they were looking for.

He could hear the high pitched voices of small children as they got closer, and when they crested a small hill, he saw the group. There were more than what he had seen before, possibly almost 30 people.

Lena crept up beside him and raised a brow at him, "You didn't mention how large the group was" she whispered.

Daryl shook his head, "I musta skirted past one a tha edges of their group. They didn seem so big before."

Beth crouched next to them and whispered, "Do you think we can trust them?"

They all stared at each other for a long moment before turning their gaze to the large group, watching them. They watched as the men and women played with the children and packed their tents, laughing and chattering easily. All of the adults carried weapons, but none had the face of violence or evil that they had seen on so many before.

Finally Lena looked to Beth and Daryl, "Let's go. We'll never know for sure just sitting here." She rose from her crouch and waited while Beth and Daryl followed her. They approached the camp, making more noise than they normally would, giving the group a chance to see them and prepare.

They watched as the group gathered the children quickly, ushering them behind a wall of men and women who were well garbed with weapons. Another smaller group of men and women stepped forward, guns and knives in their hands.

Their trio raised their hands, showing they had no weapons in them, and smiled, or at least Beth and Lena smiled. Daryl looked less threatening than normal.

A woman from the group stepped forward slightly, raising a gun at them, "That's far enough." Daryl, Lena and Beth stopped, waiting.

The woman stared at them for a long time before turning to the men and women at her sides. Raising a brow she jerked her head towards their trio, "Is that the man you saw?" she asked. A young man stepped forward and stared at Daryl for a moment before nodding.

"That's him" he confirmed.

Lena looked over at Daryl, smirking, "Guess you're not so sneaky, huh?" she murmured. He scowled at her and turned his gaze back to the group before them.

"I'm Lena Baudin, this is Beth Greene, and Daryl Dixon. We mean you no harm, I swear. Daryl saw your group while he was out hunting. We live close by, and we want you to join us. We have a safe place to live, someplace your kids could live without fear from the dead. Will you join us?" Lena smiled at the group, waiting for them to make a decision.

The woman stared at her for a long moment before turning to the group, "Watch them" she ordered. The young man who had identified Daryl and another woman nodded, stepping forward to guard their group. The rest gathered together, talking softly, heads shaking, hands making sharp movements, and voices being raised.

Lena turned to Daryl and smiled softly, "You think they'll come?" she asked.

Daryl shrugged, "Maybe. If not, then we need to make sure they don't want to attack us."

Beth stepped closer and murmured, "I don't think that's the case. I've seen the way the mothers are talking; they don't want to be out here. They're going to come with us. But we need to keep our eyes open, make sure we know them, and make sure there aren't any surprises here."

The young man from the group stepped forward having overheard the conversation. He smiled at Beth, "There won't be any trouble if we come with you. We got rid of trouble makers when they first popped up. We learned the hard way."

Beth stared at him and frowned, "What does that mean?" she asked.

He sighed; looking troubled and ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. "About six months ago we had a trio of men who joined our group. At first they seemed great; strong, capable, good hunters. But then, they started hoarding food and assaulting women. We eventually beat them until they could barely walk, took their weapons and abandoned them. We haven't had a problem since."

Beth stared at him, shocked by his story. They didn't have any other alternative than what they had done, but it didn't lessen the blow. After a moment she cleared her throat and nodded, "We had a leader of our group, Shane, who went crazy, started making terrible decisions, hurting people. When my home was overrun, he died…his best friend killed him."

The man nodded, understanding. He reached a hand out, smiling when Beth took it a moment later, shaking it gently. "I'm Blake Crawford, it's nice to meet you Ms. Greene."

Beth laughed softly, "You can just call me Beth."

Blake smiled, his green eyes lighting up, "Beth, it's nice to meet you."

Beth blushed, realizing she was still holding Blake's hand and quickly tugged hers back, stuffing it into her pocket. "It's nice to meet you too Blake."

Nearby Lena nudged Daryl and pointed her chin at Blake and Beth, smiling knowingly. Daryl had observed their small by-play and was interested to see the smile on Beth's face as she talked to the handsome young man.

A few minutes later the large group broke up and approached them, faces open and at ease. The woman that had been speaking earlier stepped forward and smiled, "We would be very happy to join you. Are you close by?" she asked.

Daryl nodded, "Sorta, its about 10 miles from here. Y'all have any vehicles?" he asked.

The woman laughed and shook her head, "No, if we did, we would have found real shelter a long time ago."

Daryl nodded, a ghost of a smile passing his lips. "Well, we only got one car with us. We have a few more in town…" he paused and looked at their group, thinking. "Why don we take a few of you with us an you can drive back here to pick yer people up?" he offered.

The woman nodded, "I'll come, Blake too, and Charlie as well." Turning to the large group she nodded, "Let's get things packed up" she ordered.

Sliding her gun into her holster, she waved at Blake and another man who introduced himself as Charlie. The woman grinned and stuck her hand out to Lena, Beth and Daryl, "I'm Connie. It's great to meet you all."

Their group set out for the jeep, keeping quiet and watching out for walkers. Forty minutes later they exited the woods and stuffed themselves into the jeep, Beth sitting on Lena's lap, while Blake and Charlie squeezed in beside them.

They took off to town, driving quickly. When they got back, Daryl showed them where the four cars were and distributed the keys. Beth drove the spare and Daryl led the caravan back to the pickup point.

Lena went through town to the houses that they had secured and opened the windows, allowing a breeze in to clear the stuffy scent out. The houses were bare bones, but they at least had beds and some other furniture.

The survivors could dress up the homes by going to the larger town twenty miles away and plundering the stores there, if they were careful. As Lena walked out of the house she saw the vehicles rolling down the street, packed tightly with people.

She walked forward and waved, guiding the people towards the homes. They parked and unloaded, kids and parents spilling out, looking around with wide eyes. Lena stepped forward and smiled, "Hi guys. Welcome to your new homes! You'll be safe here. Everyone can pick their own homes, and I'll help with bags."

The women nodded and smiled at her, ushering the children into the houses. Lena grabbed bags and tents, helping carry them into the houses. The children ran up and down the stairs, declaring rooms for themselves.

Further down the street she heard the same thing happening in other houses. Grinning, Lena went back outside to help others with their things. The cars left again to gather more people and Lena went house to house, showing the women and children where their house was, the garden they were growing, and promised to help them grow their own when the women exclaimed happily at the sight of fresh food.

By mid afternoon the town was full of people, walking from house to house as people set up their homes. The children ran around happily, playing and laughing. Lena and Daryl helped a young couple by repairing the crib they had found in an attic, preparing it for the baby that the woman was just days from giving birth to.

Beth helped Connie and her husband Charlie wash the sheets from their bed and hang them on the line in the backyard. When she was walking back to her house she saw Blake waving to her from the porch of a small home and wandered over, leaning on the railing, smiling at him.

"You like it here?" she asked.

Blake nodded and smiled, "I haven't had roommates since college, but yea, it's good. Thank you for bringing us here."

Beth smiled, "Well y'all have children, and you seem kind. We can't let good people out there. We have to try and fight for the world."

Blake regarded her for a moment and then smiled, his look making her blush. Beth tucked her hands into her jeans and backed away, stammering nervously, "Uh, well, I gotta go. We're making dinner, and asking that those who are able lend a hand so we can all have a feast together. We're meeting in the town center to eat. I'll uh, see you there?" she asked, feeling her face and chest flush with nerves.

Blake nodded and smiled, "I'll make my famous spiced rice. I'll see you there."

Beth nodded, backing away, smiling. Her foot slipped off the porch, sending her stumbling. Blake stepped forward to help her, but she held up a hand, "I'm good!" she muttered. Turning away, she walked away quickly, tucking her hair behind her ear, cursing her nerves.

* * *

Beth stood in her room, staring at her few belongings and sighed in frustration. A knock came at her door and a moment later Lena's head popped around the edge. Taking in the sight of Beth in her underwear, staring at her closet, Lena grinned, stepping into the room.

"Having a hard time finding something to wear?" she asked.

Beth sighed unhappily and nodded. "This is stupid. I have no reason to care!" she exclaimed. Lena smiled at her and touched her arm, breaking Beth's gaze away from the closet.

"It's ok to like Blake and to want to look nice. There's nothing wrong with that." Lena smiled at her friend and squeezed her arm softly.

Beth sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, "I…I just haven't thought about being with anyone…especially since…" her eyes darted to Lena and she bit her lip, looking worried.

Lena nodded, "I understand. But you know that if Blake or any person ever hurt you, I would kill them, right?" she murmured urgently. Beth nodded, she knew that. She knew her friends would take care of her. That wasn't what worried her.

She was worried that she didn't have the capacity to let Blake in, to be close with him, physically or emotionally. She was worried that she was broken.

Lena smiled softly, "You are an incredible woman Beth. Blake has clearly seen that and if he isn't good enough, you'll figure it out quickly. Now, let's find you something to wear, huh?" she offered.

Beth nodded, smiling shakily. Lena turned to her closet and assessed her options. They both didn't have much in the way of nice clothes, mostly jeans and ragged tops. Lena walked forward snatched a pair of black skinny jeans and a red long sleeved top that was still in good condition.

Tossing them to Beth she smiled, "This. Your ass will look incredible in those, and you look great in red."

Beth blushed and nodded, quickly pulling on the clothes. Lena appraised her for a moment before running to her room, returning a moment later with a quilted bag. Inside was makeup and a bottle of perfume.

She held it up to Beth, "You want a little?" she asked.

Beth hesitated, remembering the last time she had worn makeup. But this was different.

Nodding, she sat down and let Lena apply a light layer of eye shadow and mascara. She finished by spritzing Beth with the perfume and then stood back, "Check yourself out!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Beth looked into the mirror on the wall, her eyes widening. She looked older…sexier. Smiling at Lena she spun and grabbed her boots, tugging them on before grinning, "You ready?" she asked.

Lena laughed, "Hell yea! Let's get em!" she exclaimed. The women walked out to find Daryl waiting, dressed in his usual button down shirt and leathers. The trio gathered the food that they had made and walked down the streets to the town hall where their community was now gathered.

Wonderful scents filled the room. Fresh bread! Rice! Baked beans, stewed tomatoes, corn, green beans, and too many others to identify. Their additions of a whole roasted turkey and venison steaks were met with applause and even tears.

As they sat down to the large tables, Lena nudged Beth and jerked her chin towards the table where Blake was sitting, his gaze flickering from Beth to the food on the table. Beth flushed and then straightened, walking over to sit across from him, smiling brightly.

Lena smiled and sat next to Daryl, turning to speak with a new person she hadn't met yet. All around them the sound of chatter and consumption filled the space, the laughter and smiles lighting up the room.

As the food dwindled away, Lena stood and wound the radio, smiling when the strains of music began to drift out. People stilled and stared at the radio in awe, most not having heard music in years.

Lena held out a hand to Daryl who glared at her for a moment before sighing and standing, taking her hand and swaying to the music. Lena smiled up at him and squeezed his arm softly, "This is great, I'm so proud of you. We have a real community here, and it's because of you."

Daryl shook his head gently and brushed his lips against her temple, "Aint much. Jus helpin others out. Doin what Beth told me ta do a long time ago; find good people."

Lena hummed with satisfaction and laid her head on Daryl's chest, watching as other couples stood and danced, small children joining them on the floor, dancing happily. As the evening wore on, Lena and Daryl continued to dance, talk with others and helped with the cleanup.

Beth was deep in conversation with a group of people when a tap on her shoulder made her look up. Blake was standing by her, holding out his hand, smiling. "Would you care to dance?" he asked.

Beth blushed and nodded standing and taking his hand, letting him lead her out and pull her close. His hand wrapped around her waist, his strong hand gripping her hip firmly, holding her a hair's breath away from him.

Beth tucked her hand behind his neck, staring up into his sparkling green eyes. "I'm so happy I met you" Blake murmured.

Beth blushed and turned her chin down, looking up at him through her lashes. Blake smiled and stroked her hip softly as they turned slowly around on the floor.

The night grew darker and people began to disperse to their homes, carrying sleeping children. Beth and Blake went outside, walking close together down the street to Beth's house. Beth shivered in the cool night air and then shivered when Blake's arm came around her shoulders, pulling her close to his side.

"What did you do before this?" Beth asked softly.

Blake smirked, laughing softly, "You mean before everything went to shit? Well, I graduated college with a degree in Engineering and I was working at a tech firm when things fell apart."

Beth hummed softly and then asked, "Where did you live? How did you end up down here?"

Blake sighed, "I used to live in Ohio, in Columbus. My parents wanted us to go get my grandparents who lived down here in Baton Rouge. But when things started getting worse, we couldn't get word from them. We started down here and after they died, I just…kept going."

Beth sighed sadly and squeezed Blake's arm, "I'm sorry. My whole family is gone too. I know what that's like. But I'm glad you made it here."

They had arrived at Beth's house and were standing on the front porch, staring at each other. Blake reached out and touched her cheek softly, his gaze falling to her lips. Beth's heart stuttered as Blake leaned in, his breath whispering across her skin.

She pulled back and turned her chin down, flushing. "I'm sorry, I just…I'm not ready for that" she whispered.

Blake smiled softly and cupped her cheek, "That's ok. I want to know you." He leaned in and brushed his lips across her cheek softly before pulling back and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he murmured, questioning softly.

Beth nodded and smiled up at him shyly, "I'd like that" she whispered.

He nodded and smiled at her one last time before turning and walking back up the street to his house. Beth stood on the porch and watched his lean form in the moonlight, her heart beating quickly with excitement.

A soft sound behind her made her turn to look. Lena came up beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leaning her head down on Beth's shoulder. "How did it go?" she asked.

Beth smiled and laid her head on Lena's, "Really well. I like him" she whispered.

Lena sighed happily, "That's good, I'm really happy for you." They stayed standing together for awhile until Lena squeezed Beth's shoulders gently, "I'm headed to bed, I'll see you later."

Beth nodded and waved goodnight to her friend, remaining on the porch for a little while, looking out at the town as the lights flickered off and people settled in for the night.

She smiled, looking around at the community they were building and felt at peace, at home, safe and happy. They were building something good here, something to be proud of and she couldn't wait to help it grow.

They all had hope now, and something to fight for.

A future.


	20. Pleasantville, USA

_**Drumroll please...this is it! final chapter, I hope you enjoy it, it's LOOOONG! Please review! Thank you so so so much for reading! **_

* * *

**Four months later**

Beth lay in bed, her toes freezing, watching the snow fall out the window of her bedroom. A moment later the bed creaked and Blake slid beneath the covers, handing her a pair of fuzzy socks, smirking.

"For your ice cubes" he quipped. Beth smacked his chest and grinned, quickly rolling them on over her feet, sighing in satisfaction. Turning into his chest, she wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled her nose into his neck, happily sharing his body heat.

The winter had been snowy and cold, even this far south. They had built fires in the houses, but staying in bed sharing body heat was really the only option for staying warm.

Not that she was complaining.

Blake brushed her hair out of her face and smiled down at her, "Better?" he murmured. Beth nodded and wiggled her leg between his, drawing herself even closer. When his hand snuck beneath her sweater to rub softly over her back, her eyes drifted closed in satisfaction, a soft humming noise escaping her.

Slowly, her body relaxed into boneless warmth, her breath evening out as she fell asleep. Blake smiled, watching her sleep. He spent nearly every day here with Beth, but hadn't officially moved in yet.

They had taken things slowly, getting to know each other and learning their pasts before they ever became intimate. When he learned of the awful things that had happened to her just months earlier, he had been even more hesitant to try and kiss her or hold her.

Eventually Beth had taken the relationship forward, making the first moves and they hadn't looked back. Now he wanted to move forward again. He wanted to be here with here always, and he wanted to be by her side forever…despite how stupid that was in their current world, he knew he wanted to marry her.

Sighing, he settled back against the pillows and watched her sleep, wondering how she would react to him proposing.

* * *

The wind howled and blew the snow against the houses creating large drifts that kept people trapped in their homes for days on end. It also served to bury walkers and freeze them in place. When the storms ceased, teams from the community would spread out around the town and dispatch the walkers they found, piling the bodies in the woods.

For weeks now the snow and wind had continued, with no spring in sight.

Lena, Connie, Charlie, Daryl, and five other community members slogged through the snow on their way back to town. They had spent two days out, killing walkers and gathering supplies from the local towns.

They had taken two cars and had been forced to find a new one after one had broken down, leaving one half of the group trapped. Now they drove slowly, painfully so, through the snow storm, back home.

The heater in the car that Lena, Daryl, Charlie and Connie were in was failing, leaving them shivering as freezing air whipped through the cracks in the doors. They were still twenty miles from town and the roads were beginning to get sloppy, covered in snow and ice.

Lena fought the wheel of the car, her knuckles white from gripping it tightly, straining to keep the car on the road. Daryl peered out the window and made sure they stayed straight, leading their friends back home.

Nearly two hours later they drove back into the town, sighing gratefully at the sign reading "Pleasantville- Safe Zone". They had gone back and forth on the name until Blake had jokingly suggested the name from the Toby McGuire movie and everyone had grinned, enjoying the irony.

They quickly unloaded their supplies in the town hall, ensuring that the town would make it through the next few months. The townspeople had enough supplies in their homes to make it through the next few days of storms, should it come to that.

The supply run teams dispersed to their homes and hunkered down, waiting out the storms.

* * *

Daryl pulled on another pair of socks and a sweater, shivering. They had only been outside for a short time as they unloaded supplies into the house, but he had gotten thoroughly soaked through and felt chilled to the bone.

He listened as Lena locked up the house tight, knowing she was sealing the cracks of the doors with rags to try and keep the house warmer. Beth and Blake had greeted them warmly upon their return and helped them unload supplies before warming food in the small potbelly fireplace.

Daryl scooped up a bite of chili and groaned in satisfaction. "That good huh?" he heard Lena ask. Opening his eyes he found her in their bedroom, changing out of her cold wet clothes and into sweatpants and a sweater.

Nodding, he swallowed and shifted in bed, making room for her. She smiled brightly and jumped in, curling naturally into his side. He offered her the bowl, "Ya hungry?" he asked softly, knowing she had to be just as hungry as he was.

She nodded and took the spoon, taking a large bite, letting out a noise of satisfaction. "Mmph. That's awesome. I'm going to get some of my own." She pecked him on the cheek and smiled as she slipped back out of bed, moving quickly down the hall.

A few minutes later she came back with a bowl of her own and sank back into bed, curling her legs over Daryl's, her head reclining on his shoulder. Sighing in satisfaction, she ate with gusto, listening to the storm blow outside.

When she had finished her dinner she curled into Daryl and smiled up at him, "Can you believe this is our life?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head, his eyes distant. Lena looked at his face and saw he was troubled. Rising up, she touched his cheek softly, "Hey, what's wrong?" she murmured.

Daryl stared down at the covers for a long time and then murmured, "I've jus been thinkin bout my old group a lot, tha's all."

Lena felt a flicker of sorrow at his words. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize." She stared at him for a moment and then asked hesitantly, "Do…do you think they're still alive?"

Daryl shook his head, "I dunno. But they were far from here last I saw 'em. It would be impossible ta find 'em." Lena held his hand and stroked her thumb across the back of it as he spoke, thinking.

After a moment she shook her head, "Maybe not impossible…but difficult." Daryl looked up at her, confused. She smiled, "The radio. What if we got word to the radio station that we are looking for them, and to meet us at one of the towns close by, that way if anyone else comes looking, we don't run the risk of them causing violence here?"

Daryl stared at her for a long moment and then nodded, not wanting to hope, but still, Lena could see it in his eyes, in his smile, that radiant shard of hope that he hid from most everyone else. Lena smiled back, her heart swelling with love.

* * *

Over the next six months they spread word to the radio station by organizing a team of 5 people to drive to Philadelphia and relay the message. They listened every night the team was on the road until finally one night in July they heard their message announced on the radio.

"Hey everybody out there, this is Free America Radio and we have a special announcement for you tonight and every night from here on out. If your name is Rick Grimes, your friend Daryl Dixon is alive and looking for you. He's going to be looking for you at the Myrtle Grove Marina in Louisiana. For any other peaceable survivors looking for refuge in the south, you are also welcome. Those looking for trouble should definitely stay away. We will be making this announcement every day. For those looking for the exact address, we have a specific wavelength to communicate via shortwave radio on. That wavelength will be given out shortly. Thank you."

A great cheer went up in the community center. Their message had gone out, and with it, the hope that their town would now grow. The walls were expanding, and more repairs were being made every day, ensuring their safety.

There hadn't been any herds or even small groups of walkers in weeks. They pushed their boundaries of patrol out farther to make sure that they kept a close eye out for any packs of walkers that might be heading their way, but so far, none seemed to be coming this way.

* * *

Three weeks later as Blake and Beth were moving into their own house, the sky grew darker, the wind picking up into strong gusts. Lena and Daryl were helping them carry boxes of belongings and bed frames, sighing in relief at the breezes.

Lena set her box down and went out to the porch to enjoy the breeze. When she looked up to the sky her gaze narrowed. The sky had turned a nasty shade of grey-green. The clouds were rolling in, and the wind was blowing much harder now.

"Shiiiiit" she whispered. Daryl stomped out onto the porch and paused at her side, looking up at the sky as well.

"Whatcha lookin at?" he asked.

Lena pointed to the sky, "A hurricane I think" she said, worried.

Daryl raised a brow, "Ya sure?" he asked.

Lena nodded, "We saw the a lot in Florida, I'm pretty damn sure."

Daryl sighed and ran a hand over his face, "Shit."

Lena nodded, "Yea, my thoughts exactly. We're going to have to get people to board up their windows and maybe even evacuate. We have no idea how bad this is going to be."

Daryl sighed again and looked down at her, "Abandon this place? Nah, aint nobody gonna do that."

Lena sighed, exasperated, "Ok, well then, they'll need to stay on the second floors of their homes and hope that its nowhere as bad as Katrina, and that nobody dies." Her tone was sarcastic, but she was genuinely scared.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her, knowing she was worried about the people, but annoyed she was being sarcastic. Lena glared back and waved a hand around at the town, "Daryl, if anybody dies during the storm and takes awhile to turn and no one notices, we have a big problem."

He sighed and then nodded, "Ok. How long do ya think we have?" he asked. Lena looked to the sky and thought hard. Probably no more than a day.

"No more than a day" she said. "We need to get to boarding up windows today, and move those older couples to the town hall. It's sturdy and they'll be safe there. The kids too."

Daryl nodded thoughtfully. Waving a hand, he went inside, Lena following him, and informed Blake and Beth what they thought was happening, and what needed to occur to keep people safe. They quickly agreed to split up and inform the town and get people to begin to board up their windows and move those people who needed to, into the town hall.

Hours later the town rang out with the sound of hammers as windows were boarded up. A small patrol had been set along the wall to make sure any walkers that were drawn by the noise were quickly put down to prevent a herd.

By the end of the day the storm was approaching, throwing up heavy winds and flooding, driving people inside to wait out the wrath of Mother Nature and pray.

As the sky blackened with the ferocity of the storm and then with the fall of night, the storm pounded the town, ripping tiles off roofs, siding off houses, and parts of the wall down.

Walkers were blasted into trees and ripped into pieces before being flung for miles on the wind. The water rose, carrying anything not nailed down with it.

In their house, Beth, Blake, Daryl and Lena huddled together, riding out the storm, listening to it scream and howl like a wild thing, clawing at the house, desperate to get in. Lena shuddered and tucked her head into Daryl's shoulder, "It sounds like a walker" she whispered.

He nodded and stroked her hair, his hand trembling. It sounded like the ghost of his father.

* * *

The next day the storm had passed on, leaving only heavy rain and strong winds in its wake. Nearly all the houses had wind and flood damage. Their community came together and began to make repairs, joyful to find that no one had been injured or killed.

The next week the community was devoted to cleaning, repairing and rebuilding.

As Daryl was helping to lift a piece of siding into place, sweat dripping into his eyes and stinging, he heard someone calling his name, shouting.

Charlie secured the siding and Daryl stepped back, wiping his face off on his arm before turning to see what the commotion was. One of the men from guard duty was running down the street, waving the walkie he carried.

As he approached he held it out to Daryl, "Daryl! It's…it's your friends" he gasped.

Daryl stared at the man, and then down at the walkie for a long moment before snatching it out of his hand. His hand shook as he pressed the button, "R-rick? S'that you?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

His thumb slipped off the button and he waited, his heart pounding, until finally, the walkie crackled to life. "Daryl! It's me! It's Rick! Oh my god brother, we thought you were dead!" there was wild, joyous laughter on the line as he spoke, a man's and woman's laughter.

Daryl clutched the walkie, his throat tightening. He pressed the button down, "Rick, who's with ya?" he asked, hope nearly choking him.

"Michonne, Judy, Carl, Carol, myself, Abraham and a few others. Where are you?" he asked.

Daryl's eyes closed as he struggled to compose himself. They were alive. Lil asskicker was alive. He wanted to weep. Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes and replied, "We're a few miles away. Tha men'll lead ya here. Won't take more'n twenty minutes."

Rick laughed, "We'll see you in twenty minutes then Daryl."

Daryl nodded and then looked up to the guard, tossing him the walkie before taking off running down the street, a grin breaking out on his face. He burst into Beth and Blake's house, barreling into the kitchen where they were peeling up tile.

Beth looked up at him, startled. Daryl grabbed her and pulled her up, gripping her arm tightly, his face intense. Beth searched his face, "What Daryl? What's wrong?" she asked urgently.

Daryl took a deep breath and then smiled, "Not wrong…right…its Rick an the others. They heard tha radio! They're here! They're gonna be here in twenty minutes." He watched as the realization hit Beth, her eyes widening, a smile breaking out on her face.

Her hand went to her mouth, a small gasp escaping her. "Rick…they'll be here? They're alive?" she whispered. Daryl nodded effusively, grinning when she threw her arms around him, laughing brightly.

A moment later the front door burst open again, this time admitting Lena. She ran in and grinned at the befuddled Blake, "It's their old group, they've found us, finally." Blake's face cleared and he smiled, nodding.

Beth pulled away from Daryl and smiled so brightly at Lena that it looked like a little piece of the sun. Lena felt like her heart would break; she was so happy for them that they got a little piece of their family back, but she was also jealous that hers was gone, and never coming back.

Blake sighed and waved a hand around, indicating the house, "Do you think any of the houses are in good enough shape to give them?" he asked.

Lena frowned, she hadn't thought of that. There were a few in the neighborhood that hadn't suffered as badly, but they weren't in great shape to start. "There are those ones to the back of the community, towards the wall. They're fixer uppers to be sure, but if they don't mind work, they'll be great."

Daryl snorted, "We lived inna prison for awhile, it'll be fine darlin." Lena grinned and nodded, okay, it would be fine. The world might have come crashing down a time or three, but they had managed to push back the debris and build something good out of the ruins.

A few minutes later as they were discussing plans for a supply run, they heard the sound of a car horn. Daryl and Beth exchanged a look before practically running outside. Lena and Blake followed close behind, watching as a small caravan of cars pulled to a stop in the middle of town.

After a breath of time, the doors popped open and people began to spill out. A tall rangy man with a gun on his hip, followed closely by a teenage boy, a black woman with a baby in her arms and a sword on her back, a middle aged woman with short grey hair, a tall red haired man with a large mustache, a pudgy man with a wild mullet, and a short woman with long brown hair and short shorts on.

Daryl didn't know who the last three people were, but he knew who his group was, and he ran forward to embrace each of them tightly, not caring that tears ran freely down his face. Beth cried openly as well as she hugged these people who were her family.

The gathered townspeople shed tears as well watching the reunion, their own hearts aching for lost loved ones, smiling at the sight of such joy.

Finally Daryl pulled away and turned to wave Lena forward, introducing her to everyone. "This is Lena." He looked down at her for a moment before quirking his lips, "I love her" her announced to his group.

Lena raised her brows in surprise but quickly recovered as the older woman stepped forward and introduced herself as Carol, hugging her softly. The others quickly introduced themselves as well, pleased to see their gruff friend had found someone to soften him.

When Beth introduced Blake as someone she loved as well, there was a round of laughter. Carol looked around the town and smiled, "Is it something in the water?" she asked.

Lena laughed and shook her head, "I don't think so, but there are some single men if you're interested."

Carol shook her head and grinned, "Only in a good night's rest and some real food."

Lena smiled, "We have both of those here." She pointed to their group, "We only have three houses that are free right now. We had a hurricane go through a short time ago, and some people have been shuffled while repairs are made. Can y'all make that work?" she asked.

Rick nodded, reaching out to gently touch Michonne's hand. "We'll be fine." Daryl raised a brow but didn't say anything. He had always thought the woman would be good for Rick, she had an uncanny ability to even him out, and she was wonderful with Judith.

Lena nodded, "Great! We'll be happy to help you all move in. If you need supplies we have some in the town hall, but we ask that you try and limit what you take for now and try to let us know what you are in dire need of so we can make a supply run. Sound fair?" she asked.

Rick nodded, smiling, "Y'all run a tight ship here, huh" he commented.

Lena shrugged, gathering up some of their bags, leading them to their houses. "Well we can't have people stealing supplies or eating more than their share. We need to be able to grow our community. In the time we were waiting for you we had 30 more people join us. We number almost 75 now, and while that's amazing, we need to make supply runs almost weekly. We grow our own produce in every backyard, but it's not enough. We have to go wider in our hunting range, and we have to have patrols push the walkers back. We are very proactive about keeping herds from forming so we aren't overrun. So yea, I guess we do run a tight ship." She smiled at Rick and the group surrounding her.

She led them down the street and then came to a stop in front of a trio of houses, waving a hand, "Welcome home folks. They're all yours!"

The group exchanged smiles and then went forward, exploring the houses, deciding which ones to live in. After a brief exploratory mission, they determined the biggest house would go to Rick, Michonne, Carl and Judy. The other two houses would be split; Carol and Eugene in one, and Abraham and Rosita in the other.

Lena, Beth and Daryl helped them unpack and move furniture, moving water damaged items outside. After they ran inventory, they made list of all the food and supply items that were needed, and went to the supply area to distribute what could be spared.

* * *

Later as Lena sat by the fire in their backyard making a list of supplies, she sighed, having Daryl's old group here was amazing; a stroke of pure luck, but it was putting a strain on their resources. They were going to have to go into New Orleans for supplies soon. All the local towns were being stripped.

A set of heavy hands landed on her shoulders, rubbing them gently. Her eyes slid closed and she sighed. "Whatcha sighin about, lookin so thoughtful?" Daryl murmured.

"Just supplies…we need more, and the towns are getting awfully stripped" Lena murmured in reply.

Daryl nodded; he knew that and had been worried about it too. "We'll figure it out. Fer now, why don't ya focus on this?" he whispered, taking her hand and tucking a small metal object into it.

Lena opened her eyes, confused and brought her hand down to look in her palm. Splaying her fingers open, she gasped; lying on her palm was a ring, an engagement ring if she wasn't mistaken.

It was made of twisted gold and some smoky grey metal, like ropes winding together. There were no precious stones; there was only the small, delicate band. Lena looked up and found Daryl crouched by her side, his face intense.

He reached out and touched the band, his large, rough finger gentle. "I liked it cuz it reminded me of us. Yer tha gold, so bright and strong, an I'm tha dark metal, kept warm an true by ya." His eyes were bright and earnest as he stared at her. "I know its probably stupid, bein the end of tha world an all…but…will ya be my wife?" he whispered.

Lena's eyes welled and she nodded, unable to speak. Daryl's breath hitched and he smiled, so brightly it shattered her. He took the ring from her hand and slipped it onto her finger, his eyes watching the movement.

"I promise ta be tha best man I can be for ya" he murmured, leaning in to kiss her fiercely. Lena gripped his shirt, holding him close as she kissed him back.

"Just be yourself and you'll be all I need" she whispered back as they broke apart.

Daryl nodded and pulled her to her feet, smiling, "Come on darlin, tha's enough work fer tonight." Lena smiled and allowed herself to be pulled inside. If her fiancée wanted to distract her, who was she to refuse?

* * *

Two years later

Lena wrote steadily, listening to the pencils scratch along behind her. After another moment she stopped and turned, smiling at her students. "Okay, now, once you're done taking notes, can anyone tell me in what year President Obama took office?" she asked.

Lena sat on top of her desk, crossing her legs and watched as her students finished their notes. A few students looked around before one teen raised his hand. Lena nodded and pointed to him, "Carl, go ahead."

Rick's son smiled, "He was sworn into office in 2009."

Lena nodded, "Very good. Now, does anyone know who his Vice President was?" she asked.

A young girl's hand shot up and Lena nodded. "Joe Biden" she called out.

Lena smiled, "Yes! Now, does anyone know the three different branches of government and can you guys tell me why there are three branches?" she asked.

The class began to name the branches and discuss their jobs, leading to a discussion of power abuses, law creation, power overreach, and the devolution of power when the virus that had destroyed humanity had hit.

A young girl furrowed her brow and asked, "So what happens now? We hear on the radio that the walkers are being killed and there are fewer of them causing problems. Will a new government be put in place?"

Lena sighed thoughtfully, "Well, we're not sure. We've heard reports on the radio that there are more survivor city centers like ours growing in size and frequency across the country. But there's no word that a cure or even a treatment has been found, in fact, we know that the CDC ran out of fuel and was destroyed years ago. However there are multiple high level research labs in the US that are capable of creating cures, so we don't lose hope, huh?" she smiled at her students, seeing their worry.

They nodded and smiled back at her before continuing their discussion on civics. After another twenty minutes Lena looked at her watch and then clapped her hands, "Alright guys that's it for today, please head to math! I want to see your essays on civil rights and how they are affected by national crisis and states of emergency on Monday, got it? Okay, have a great weekend guys!"

She smiled and waved to her students and sat, answering the occasional question as they filed out of the room. The town had no actual school, but instead used a huge mansion, turning the rooms into classrooms. They had scavenged from New Orleans and hung whiteboards in the rooms, and long tables that served as desks.

When the teens had left the room Lena gathered up her notebooks and tucked them into her satchel, slinging it over her shoulder before locking the door behind her. Walking through the halls of the house, she smiled as the students walked from room to room, calling out to each other.

As she walked outside into the warm spring sun she slid her sunglasses on and tilted her face up, sighing happily. "Can I carry yer bags fer ya ma'am?" a low rough voice asked.

Lena grinned and turned her gaze to find Daryl leaning against the side of the house, his warm gaze on her. Sauntering over, she leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck, brushing her lips against his.

"Hey" she murmured softly.

Daryl tugged her bag off her shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist, kissing her neck softly. "Hey" he murmured back. They strolled down the streets of the town, waving to the other townspeople who were out working their gardens, taking dogs for a walk, and pushing baby strollers.

Lena marveled at the sights, all of which would have been impossible two years ago. The hordes of walkers had nearly overrun their town twice, but had been lured away and destroyed in a week long campaign of horror.

Daryl pushed the door to their house open and tossed her bag onto the counter, tugging her hand, leading her out to the backyard. Lena gaped at the decorations, unable to take it all in. She turned to stare at Daryl, a smile creeping across her face.

"You did all this?" she asked, incredulous.

He nodded, "You think she'll like it?" he asked.

Lena nodded effusively, "She's going to flip. It's amazing darlin." She smiled up at him, proud of the work he had put into decorating for Beth's wedding.

Daryl blushed softly, "Well, she's like a sister ta me, I jus want it ta be perfect fer her."

Lena nodded, "I know babe, it will be." She tugged on his arm, "Come on, we need to get dressed."

Daryl nodded and followed her inside to change into his clothes for the wedding. Beth had asked him to wear something nice, leaving the decision up to him. He had asked Lena what he should wear, and she had taken him on a supply run to a large clothing store, helping him pick out a suit that he could tolerate.

They had picked out a shirt that was lightweight cotton, in a dark wine color and a navy blue suit that was close cut, leaving him feeling exposed, but oddly happy. He had asked Lena for a haircut, and now, just hours before the wedding, was cleaning himself up so he was fresh smelling and good looking.

If his friends hadn't known him when they saw him that evening at the wedding, they would never have believed the handsome shaggy haired man in the suit was their normally dirty redneck friend.

When Beth walked out of the house in her knee length wedding dress and cowgirl boots, her hair braided to one side with wildflowers twisted into it, everyone gathered sighed happily. Blake took her hands and smiled brilliantly down at her, tears in his eyes.

The priest started on the ceremony and everyone sat, watching with rapt attention as the ceremony proceeded. As Blake and Beth kissed the gathered members of the town cheered.

Afterwards they gathered in the large town square for dancing, music, and food. Lena and Daryl whirled around, laughing and grinning at each other. As the sun set on their colony, a guard caught Lena's attention, drawing her away from the party.

"What is it?" she asked the man. He looked worried, which concerned her.

"There are people at the gate, in Humvees. They have official looking badges and documents….they say they're with the government." The guard raised his brows, "I didn't think there was a government anymore."

"There aint. Who do they say they with?" Daryl asked, having appeared at Lena's side.

The guard shrugged, "They just said the government. They want to talk with whoever is in charge." He looked between Lena and Daryl and asked, "Should I gather the Council?"

Lena and Daryl exchanged a look before Daryl nodded, "Do it quietly." He turned to Lena as the guard turned and left. He looked worried, his already lined brow furrowed. Lena took his hand as they walked over to where Rick and Michonne were dancing, smiling happily at each other.

At the look on Daryl and Lena's face Rick and Michonne stilled, sobering. Daryl nodded, "Guard says there'r people at tha gate sayin they're from tha government."

Rick raised a brow, "What government?"

Daryl scoffed, "That's what I said."

Rick nodded slowly, "Well, lets go meet 'em and see what they want." The gathered Council nodded and walked quietly away from the party, hardly anyone noticing their departure. When they arrived at the gates the guards pulled the gates aside, allowing them to step through and face the gathered force.

There were at least 30 people at the gates, all armed some more subtly so, but all had the look of people who had weathered the storm. Their Council exchanged looks and then adjusted their stances, hands drifting to guns and knives, still worn, even though walkers were scarce these days.

The outsiders looked wary and after a moment a man stepped forward, his hands raised, showing they were empty, and they all could see he had no weapons on him. Lena watched as Michonne handed her kitana to Rick and stepped forward as well, nodding to the man.

They assessed each other for a moment before the man extended his hand, " Ma'am, my name is Howie Gordon. I'm with the Department of Homeland Security. Everyone you see here is with different government agencies, and we're trying to bring the US back."

Michonne raised an elegant brow but simply nodded. She crossed her arms after shaking his hand and waited for him to continue. He sighed, "Strong silent type, huh?" he nodded, "Better than trying to shoot us straight off, I gotta say. We've seen too much of that."

Michonne made a small interested noise and leaned forward slightly, shifting her feet. She could believe that after everything they had seen out there. The man nodded, "We heard about your refuge on the Free America Radio. We heard that it's a safe place, and that you all have kept it infection free for two years?" he looked around in interest, searching their faces in inquiry, "How in the hell did you manage that?" he asked.

Michonne glanced over her shoulder, looking in each face of the Council before sighing and turning back to him. "We joined this community two years ago, when it had already been established by those living here. They had protocols for dealing with walkers, with infected, and with new people. We had been living out in the wild for two years before that, and we knew some of the people living here, we had heard their radio transmission, so we knew it was safe. We came, and we expanded the community. As more people came, we pushed the boundaries out. We made runs further and further out, gathering supplies. We've put gardens and crops into every homestead, and we have plans to retake New Orleans within the next five years. The walkers can be killed if you do it methodically. We've proven that."

Howie stared at her, incredulous. He turned to his companions and grinned, "I told you, I told you this was the model we needed for the rest of the country. We need to take this and move it forward. If we can get some semblance of armed forces back together, we can get the country back in a decade." His companions nodded, some enthusiastically, some hesitantly, but the agreement was there.

Howie turned back to Michonne, "May we come in and talk with your community more? We would like to learn as much as possible about your refuge and how you make it work."

Michonne looked over her shoulder at the group and after a moment nodded, "Please, come in." They retreated inside as they caravan of Humvees entered, parking near the entrance. The government officials looked around in wonder, taking in the sight of the crops growing in people's front yards, the children running down the streets, and the party happening in the town square.

Howie looked blown away, "Aren't you worried the sound will draw walkers?" he asked nervously.

Rick nodded, "It's a concern. We have people on guard duty up to 15 miles away, in a spiral pattern, surrounding the community with walkies in case a herd starts to build in any direction. If that happens, the party shuts down and we head out to deal with it."

At the look on the government officials faces Rick smiled softly, "We've done this before. We can teach you how to make the herds work for you too." Howie nodded and followed them down the street to the town hall where Rick showed them maps of carefully laid out escape routes in case things went to shit.

By the end of the evening housing had been found for the government officials who were the new curiosity of the town.

The next week was spent showing them every nook and cranny of the community, going over every plan, contingency for if things went wrong, guard duties, teaching habits, and battle plans. Upon their departure the government agents knew each member of the community by name and were escorted to the gate by half the community.

When the gates had closed behind them, the small Council gathered and discussed what the government agents had told them in secret. There was still no cure. There likely wouldn't be one for at least another decade. The NIH was working diligently, but they just didn't have the resources at the moment.

For now, it was a secret that most people probably knew instinctually, but to say it out loud and dash any secret hopes they might hold, that would be the worst kind of destructive. Now they had to help fight to take back their country.

It would take years, decades even, but eventually there wouldn't be any more walkers, and the towns and cities would be safe again.

As twilight fell through the community, Lena and Daryl walked hand in hand back to their house, watching as parents ushered their children inside for the night. Lena leaned into Daryl, smiling when his arm wrapped around her shoulders, tugging her close.

She sighed and smiled up at him happily, "You think they'll be able to fight the walkers and the crazy bastards out there and regain this country?" she asked softly.

Daryl shrugged and guided her up their porch and onto the hanging swing, pulling her into his lap. Lena tucked her head into his neck and sighed, "I think it's going to take a long time. But that other community on the other side of New Orleans we've been friendly with has pledged their help with clearing it. I think we can do it within the next five years if we work together."

Daryl nodded thoughtfully and rubbed her arm raising goosebumps. Lena nudged him softly, pulling back to smile at him, "You know, Tommy and Linda are opening a pizza shop in a few weeks. We'll actually be able to have a pizza like we talked about all those years ago."

Daryl smiled slightly and nodded, "Sounds good." He looked down at her and pushed back a strand of her hair, brushing a kiss across her cheek before resting his forehead against hers.

Lena felt a tension in him and ran her hand across his shoulders, feeling the wonderful muscles, but also something that had him wound tight. "What's wrong babe?" she whispered.

Daryl shook his head and couldn't speak his throat tight. He pushed her off his lap and disappeared into the house, leaving her speechless and hurt on the swing. When he reappeared a moment later with one hand behind his back, she opened her mouth to yell, but was stopped when he sank to one knee before her.

He put one hand on her knee, and she could feel it shaking. Whatever he had to say to her was scaring him, and that scared her. She put her hand over his and felt her throat grow thick with emotion, "D-daryl, what is it?" she whispered, praying he wasn't leaving her.

He stared at her for a moment, his face inscrutable before he drew his other hand out from behind his back, and held out a wrapped package. Lena stared at it in confusion before taking it with shaking hands, unwrapping it slowly. When the paper fell away to reveal a baby's onesie, her heart beat so fast she thought she would pass out.

When her eyes rose to his, she could see the question there. "I found that test in yer drawer, in tha back. You were changin an ya asked me ta grab ya some clean socks, an ya didn't have any 'cept some in tha back, so I dug…an I found it." He looked up at her hopefully, "It was positive. Does that mean what I think?" he asked.

Lena clutched the onesie in a death grip and nodded, "I hadn't said anything because I was waiting for the test result from the doctors. We were going to make a run into the city and get some more accurate machinery this week. But I've missed three periods…so I'm probably around three months along."

Daryl took a long shaky breath before reaching up to touch her cheek softly, "Do ya want ta keep it?" he asked. He desperately wanted her to say yes, it had surprised him how much he had wanted it when he had seen that little positive sign, but he loved and respected Lena too much to make that decision for her.

He had grown up around women who were forced to have children they didn't want, hell his own daddy had complained about not wanting him so many times he had come to accept that perhaps his father really would have had him gotten rid of if his mother wasn't so strong.

Lena smiled, "Daryl, of course I do. This is our child. I couldn't be happier." She pulled on his hand and tugged him up onto the swing, scooting into his lap, gently cradling his face. "We're going to be a family" she whispered, smiling brilliantly.

Daryl smiled back, shyly reaching down to touch her stomach, still flat. He looked down at it and then back up to her, his brow furrowed, "I can't feel him movin."

Lena grinned, "You won't be able to for awhile yet hon. For now, it's just a little tadpole in there." Daryl nodded and smiled, his thumb stroking her stomach softly.

Lena pushed his hair back gently and smiled, "You think of any names?" she asked softly.

Daryl shrugged, "Maybe LeeAnn for a girl?" he offered, looking at her sidelong, gauging her reaction, "It was my momma's name" he murmured.

Lena smiled stroking the back of his neck, "I like it. What about my mom's name for her middle name? Inola?" she offered.

Daryl smiled, "She was Cherokee, yea?" he asked. Lena nodded and Daryl asked, "What's her name mean?"

Lena smiled, "Inola means Black Fox."

Daryl laughed, "Perfect. She'll be another Lil' Asskicker."

Lena laughed and nodded, "Okay, so if it's a boy, what then?" she asked.

Daryl sighed, sobering a bit. "I suppose Merle fer the middle name, after my brother. Aint the greatest of names, I know."

Lena smiled sadly at him, knowing how torn up he had been to lose his brother, regardless of how shitty Merle had treated him. She nodded, "How about after my brother and yours?" she offered.

Daryl nodded and Lena smiled, "William Merle. Will for short?" she asked. Daryl nodded thoughtfully, thinking that it had a nice sound to it. As they sat talking quietly, he kept his hand on her stomach, secretly amazed that a tiny person was growing inside the woman that he already loved so much that it caused him to ache sometimes.

To think that she was bringing another person into this world, a person that would be his son or daughter…it made him want to shout and cry with joy. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and breathed deeply, trying to control his emotions.

Lena felt a small shudder run over Daryl and smiled softly, running a hand over his hair. She had been overwhelmed when she realized definitively that she was pregnant. For Daryl, this must be a shock, she knew.

When he pulled away though, his face was happy, and his eyes were bright. He cupped her cheek softly and leaned in to kiss her, breaking away a moment later to whisper, "I love ya Lena, more than I ever thought was possible. I can't believe I'm gonna be a father. I promise I'll be a better daddy than mine ever was."

Lena blinked as tears ran down her cheeks and smiled, "Oh Daryl, I always knew that. You're a wonderful man, there's no doubt you'll be a wonderful father."

Daryl sucked in a ragged breath at that and shook his head, unable to believe he was so lucky. Lena stroked his cheek and whispered sweet words, telling him how much she and their unborn child loved him.

Eventually Daryl carried her to their bed and made love to her, carefully, patiently, until they were both exhausted and lay wrapped in each other's arms, talking of their new future.

* * *

**Six Months Later**

Daryl paced outside the clinic doors, waiting for the news. Lena had been in labor for three days, waiting, in pain, for their baby to come. The doctor had sent a team yesterday to New Orleans for drugs to speed the delivery, and they should have been back by that evening.

It was now mid morning and the team hadn't returned. He could hear Lena moaning in pain and was incredibly worried. Suddenly, the walkie at his hip crackled, "They're back! Coming your way Daryl. ETA two minutes."

Daryl sighed in relief and pushed the doors open, striding over to Lena's side. He pushed her sweaty hair back and leaned down to kiss her forehead, "Two minutes darlin. The drugs'll be here."

She looked up at him through pain hazed eyes and nodded her face pale and drawn. Daryl held her hand as a contraction squeezed down on her body, wrenching what little energy she had.

When the team came bursting in minutes later carrying sacks of medicine, the doctors and nurses shouted in joy. Daryl didn't even look up; he just continued stroking Lena's forehead, whispering softly to her about how strong she was and how much he loved her.

A hand landed on Daryl's shoulder, breaking his concentration. The doctor stood above him and smiled wearily, "Daryl, we think that Lena is too tired to push. It's been three days, and that baby needs to come out. We can do a C-Section, but there is risk."

Daryl looked down at Lena, at her nearly paper-white face and her hand-limp in his, and looked back up at the doctor, "What's tha risk?" he asked uncertainly.

The doctor waved to the clinic surrounding them, "We don't have a proper surgery wing. I'm not an obstetrician. I've done all the rotations to become a doctor, so I know what to do, and the nurses can assist, but with the times we live in…" he trailed off and raised his brows.

Daryl nodded, understanding. He looked down at Lena and leaned in, whispering, "Lena? Darlin? The doctor wants ta do a c-section ta get tha baby out. You want ta do that?" he asked.

Lena's eyes fluttered open from her half sleep and she looked at Daryl, "Will….will the baby be ok?" she asked.

Daryl looked to the doctor who nodded, "At this point the baby is starting to show signs of distress from being in labor for so long. We need to get it out."

Daryl looked back to Lena who nodded, "Do it" she whispered weakly. The doctor nodded and motioned to the nurses who quickly moved about, preparing the room for surgery.

The doctor touched Daryl on the arm and looked apologetic when Daryl looked up, "I'm sorry Daryl, but you can't stay for the surgery. We're going to sterilize the room and it's too much work to include you in that and still have time to get the surgery done, you understand?"

Daryl nodded, hating it, but leaned down to kiss Lena's pliant lips, whispering, "I love ya darlin" before walking out, watching as the nurses put her to sleep as the door swung shut.

An hour and a half later the door to the room cracked open and one of the nurses poked her head out, smiling at Daryl, who was sitting with Rick and Michonne. "Your daughter is here Mr. Dixon" she called softly.

Daryl leapt to his feet, his hand reaching out imploringly, "Daughter? It'sa girl? A girl? Aha!" he laughed joyously and then stepped closer, "What about Lena? Is she ok?" he demanded.

The nurse smiled and nodded, "She's ok. They finished closing her up and applying her bandages, she's coming out of the medicine now, so she's very groggy. We're going to move her down the hall, and bring the baby, so just stand clear, ok?"

Daryl nodded and moved back, watching as they wheeled her out, his heart thumping painfully at the sight of her pale face, bruised and drawn. A moment later his daughter was brought out in a small container, fussing and cooing.

His heart leapt at the sight of the small pink wriggling bundle, and without thinking he followed them down the hall. When they were settled in the room the nurse took his little girl out of the container and settled her in his arms, smiling at his seeming natural ability.

Daryl went to sit in the chair next to Lena's bed and rocked his daughter softly, smiling at her soft snuffling noises. "Shh darlin, I aint got what yer lookin for, but yer momma will be awake soon enough an ya can have some breakfast then."

He rubbed her cheek softly, watching as she began to soothe and her cries petered out. Daryl moved her to his shoulder and reclined back, propping his feet up on Lena's bed, his eyes on her form as both he and his daughter fell asleep.

Hours later the soft movement of someone taking his daughter from him roused Daryl instantly. A sense of panic seized him; when his eyes popped open to find a nurse handing LeeAnn over to an awake Lena, his heart resumed beating normally and he sank back down into his chair, not even realizing that he had risen half out of it.

Lena smiled over at him, "Hey sleepyhead. Nice to see you awake" she teased. As she began to breastfeed LeeAnn Daryl smiled and leaned forward, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Nice ta see _you_ awake" he said, raising a brow for emphasis. Lena nodded, leaning into him when he sat on the bed and wrapped an arm around her.

"I dreamed about that day I first met you, do you remember?" she asked, looking up at him momentarily, wincing as LeeAnn fed. Daryl looked down with interest and then nodded, "Yea, I won't forget it. Ya dropped at my feet after killing two walkers."

Lena nodded, "In the moment before I passed out, all I could think was, thank God I'm not alone anymore." She smiled up at him, "I've thanked God a lot more since then for bringing us together."

Daryl smiled softly, "We were pretty lucky ta end up together, huh?" he murmured.

Lena shrugged gently, "Maybe. All I know is that I'd probably be dead had I not met you."

Daryl stared at her and their daughter and then pressed a kiss to her hair, whispering, "I don wanna think about my life without ya."

Lena smiled tiredly and nodded, leaning into his chest more, her eyes falling shut again, napping as LeeAnn nursed.

Daryl watched the two people he loved the most, and wondered what the next decade would bring for them. For now he was content to live happily in Pleasantville, with his family, and try to regain their world, piece by piece.

As for the rest, who knows.

* * *

**_So...ambiguous ending there, I know. But I am open to writing more stories with Lena and Daryl and their children and the rebuilding of the country. So if that's something you're interesting in, review or PM me! Again, thank you for reading! xoxo_**


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